A winter storm brought up to a foot and a half of snow to the Sierra with only a few inches of snow to western Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS REV wrote it up.
A winter storm brought up to a foot and a half of snow to the Sierra with only a few inches of snow to western Nevada.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 4, 4:25 AM PST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
425 AM PST THU JAN 4 2007
.SHORT TERM...
COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM NEAR HONEY LAKE EAST TO BETWEEN WINNEMUCCA
AND LOVELOCK...AS IS EVIDENCED BY A SOLID PRECIPITATION BAND IN THE
KRGX AND KLRX RADARS. THE COLD FRONT AND ITS ASSOCIATED PRECIP BAND
IS BEGINNING TO DRIVE SOUTH AS COLD ADVECTION ENSUES AHEAD OF A
SHORT WAVE OFF THE OREGON COAST. THE WAVE HAS IMPRESSIVE DYNAMICS
WITH THE HELP OF A 140-160 KT JET STREAK PROGGED TO SAG SOUTH TO
NEAR MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN BY 00Z. THIS WILL DRAG PRECIP SOUTH THROUGHOUT
THE DAY...WITH SNOW LEVELS FALLING TO THE VALLEY FLOORS A SHORT
DISTANCE BEHIND THE SHARP COLD FRONT. SEE OUR ZONES AND WINTER
WEATHER PRODUCTS FOR EXPECTED SNOWFALL AMOUNTS.
THIS EVENING...THE TROUGH WILL SWING THROUGH NORTHERN NEVADA. THE
00Z AND 06Z GFS CONTINUE TO SHOW ADDITIONAL PRECIP BETWEEN 00Z AND
06Z AS THE TROUGH AXIS SWINGS THROUGH. THIS MAY PRODUCE A COUPLE
ADDITIONAL INCHES OF SNOWFALL FOR THE LOWER VALLEYS OF WESTERN
NEVADA AND NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA. WITH THE 2 PRONGED ACCUMULATION
POTENTIAL (AFTER THE FRONT AND WITH THE MAIN TROUGH AXIS)...WE HAVE
DECIDED TO PUSH BACK AND EXTEND THE SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE RENO
CARSON CITY AREA.
FRIDAY...HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE REGION...WITH EASTERLY WIND
GUSTS TO AT LEAST 80 MPH EXPECTED OVER THE RIDGETOPS. SATURDAY...A
FAST MOVING IMPULSE MOVES ATOP THE RIDGE INTO THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST...BRINGING PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES BY DRY WEATHER TO
THE REGION. INCREASING FLOW ALOFT MAY BE ENOUGH TO SCOUR THE
INVERSION OVER NORTHERN AREAS...ALTHOUGH THIS IS BY NO MEANS CERTAIN
YET. IF SO...TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN WASHOE
COUNTY AND THE SURPRISE VALLEY MAY NEED TO BE BUMPED MORE TOWARDS
THE LOWER 40S (NEAR MOS GUIDANCE) IN THE NEXT COUPLE FORECAST
PACKAGES. SNYDER
.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
RIDGE TO DOMINATE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY BEFORE PATTERN CHANGE GETS
UNDERWAY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS ALL SIGNALS POINT TO LONGWAVE
PATTERN SHIFT. THE MODELS VARY IN THEIR SOLUTIONS ESPECIALLY WITH
RESPECT TO TROUGH LOCATION LATE IN THE PERIOD AND BEYOND. THE
SOLUTIONS ARE A BIT FURTHER EAST AND MORE INLAND THAN PREVIOUS RUNS.
HOWEVER IT DOES APPEAR IT WILL AT LEAST TURN COLDER WITH SOME CHANCE
OF PRECIPITATION BY WEDNESDAY. FOR NOW KEPT GENERAL CHANCES OF
PRECIPITATION IN THE FORECAST PER PREVIOUS PACKAGE BUT ADJUSTED
TEMPERATURES DOWNWARD A COUPLE OF CATEGORIES BELOW CLIMATOLOGY TO
ACCOUNT FOR TROUGHINESS/LOWERING HEIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN
STATES. HOHMANN
&&
.AVIATION...
COLD FRONT TO MOVE ACROSS I-80/HWY 50 TAF SITES BETWEEN 13Z-17Z.
HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION WILL ACCOMPANY/IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW FROPA WITH
SNOW LEVELS QUICKLY LOWERING TO ALL VALLEY FLOORS. EXPECT LIFR/IFR
CEILINGS IN MDT/HVY SNOW AT KTRK/KTVL THIS MORNING...SNOW TAPERING
TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS/MVFR CONDITIONS 20-06Z WITH FURTHER
IMPROVEMENT OVERNIGHT. FOR WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS...GENERALLY VFR
EXCEPT NEAR FRONT IN HEAVY PRECIPITATION BAND...CIGS/VSBY WILL LOWER
TO MVFR/LCL IFR FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS THIS MORNING...THEN LCL MVFR
IN SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. A SECONDARY BAND OF SNOW SHOWERS IS
POSSIBLE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING WITH MAIN TROUGH PASSAGE.
HOHMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING FOR NVZ005.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING FOR NVZ001.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NVZ002.
SNOW ADVISORY 7 AM TO 7 PM PST FOR NVZ003.
CA...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON PST TODAY FOR CAZ071.
SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING FOR CAZ070.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PST THIS MORNING FOR CAZ073.
SNOW ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM PST THIS EVENING
FOR CAZ073.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained weather spotter reported a total of 6 inches of snowfall near Donner Peak at an elevation of 6700 ft.
At Alpine Meadows Ski Resort a total of 16 inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8600 feet with 11 inches reported at 7000 feet.
At Sugar Bowl ski area a total of 10 inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8400 feet with 6 inches reported at 6900 feet.
At Northstar-at-Tahoe Ski Resort a total of 16 inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8300 feet with 10 inches reported at 6900 feet.
At Squaw Valley Ski Resort a total of 10 inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8200 feet with 6 inches reported at 6200 feet.
A Kirkwood Ski Resort a total of 18 inches of snowfall was reported.
At Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Resort a total of 18 inches of snowfall was reported.
At Homewood ski area a total of 14 inches of snowfall was reported at an elevation of 7900 feet with 7 inches reported at 6250 feet.
A trained spotter at South Lake Tahoe reported a total of 8 inches of snow.
At Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort a total of 12 inches of snowfall was reported at an elevation of 9000 feet.
At June Mountain ski area a total of 10 inches of snowfall was reported at an elevation of 7550 feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2007
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10152, 10153, 10154, 10155, 10156, 10157, 10158, 10161, 10254, 10159, 10160.