A cold front brought strong winds as it moved through the northern Sierra and western Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 cold front brought strong winds as it moved through the northern Sierra and 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 10, 6:20 AM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
620 AM PST WED JAN 10 2007
.UPDATE...ADDED LAKE WIND ADVISORY TO PYRAMID LAKE FOR GUSTS IN
EXCESS OF 30 MPH...AND SPEED UP THE TIMING OF THE 50 MPH GUST
WORDING THIS MORNING NORTH OF I-80. SPOTTER IN CEDARVILLE REPORTED
A 54 MPH WIND GUST AT ABOUT 545 AM. BRONG
.SHORT TERM...
A BROAD UPPER TROUGH IS NOW MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC NW. THIS SYSTEM
WILL MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE WRN CONUS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
THIS TROUGH IS SHOWING UP WELL ON INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS
MORNING. CLOUD TOPS ARE WARMING SLIGHTLY BUT THE CENTRAL LOW IS
DEEP WITH VERY COLD AIR ADVECTING SOUTH ALONG ITS WRN EDGE. ON
SATELLITE COLD AIR CUMULUS ARE SHOWING UP WELL OVER THE ERN PACIFIC
JUST OFF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON COASTS. THIS AIR WILL
BE MODIFIED SOME BY THE OCEAN BUT THE COLD AIR THAT WILL AFFECT US
IS INLAND OVER THE NRN ROCKIES OF ALBERTA. RAOBS FROM TUESDAY
EVENING SHOWED 700 MB TEMPERATURES OF -20 TO -25 DEG C OVER THE
BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST. THIS IS NEAR THE CENTER OF THE LOW AND WILL
BE ADVECTING SOUTH TODAY.
MODELS KEEP THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LOW OVER THE PACIFIC NW TODAY.
AS A RESULT WE WILL NOT SEE MUCH COOLING TODAY. THE BIG STORY WILL
BE THE STRONG WINDS AS THE SFC COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH. SOUTHWEST
WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE KREV CWFA TODAY. A WIND
ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NRN SIERRA AND NWRN NEVADA ZONES
DURING THE DAY...AND FOR THE ZONES SOUTH OF I-80 FROM LATE MORNING
THROUGH THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL START TO DIE DOWN THIS EVENING AS
PRECIPITATION MOVES IN. THE PRECIP SHOULD BE ALL SNOW AS THE COLD
AIR BEHIND THE COLD FRONT DROPS SNOW LEVELS TO THE VALLEY FLOORS
THIS EVENING. WITH THE SYSTEM SO FAR INLAND THERE WILL NOT BE A
SIGNIFICANT FETCH OF MOISTURE OFF OF THE PACIFIC. THEREFORE HEAVY
SNOWFALL IS NOT EXPECTED EVEN IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NRN
AND CNTRL SIERRA.
A STRONG JET MAX WILL DIG THE UPPER TROUGH SOUTH TO THE SRN SIERRA
ON FRIDAY. THE COLD AIR MASS MOVING INTO THE REGION WILL CAUSE
EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES THURSDAY...AND ESPECIALLY FRIDAY NIGHT.
LOWS IN WRN NEVADA VALLEYS WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS THURSDAY
NIGHT WITH LOWS NEAR ZERO IN THE TAHOE BASIN. ON FRIDAY CLEARING
SKIES WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO BE EVEN COLDER...DROPPING TO AROUND
ZERO IN WRN NEVADA AND TO -5 TO -15 DEG F IN THE COLDER VALLEYS OF
THE SIERRA. WIND CHILL VALUES COULD REACH DANGEROUS LEVELS ON
FRIDAY AS THE STRONG WINDS IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA
COMBINE WITH THE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES. OHARA
.LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
MAIN ISSUE FOR THIS WEEKEND IS HOW FAR EAST WILL THE HIGH AMPLITUDE
RIDGE ALONG 150W WILL PUSH INLAND TO TURN OFF THE COLD NORTHERLY
FLOW. GFS CONTINUES TO BE FAVORED SINCE IT BEST FOLLOWS
TELECONNECTIONS AND HAS SUPPORT FROM ENSEMBLE MEANS. ECMWF IS A BIT
FAST TRYING TO PUSH A KICKER SYSTEM INTO THE RIDGE...RATHER THAN
DEFLECT IT UP AND OVER THE STABLE RIDGE. PLUS THERE IS A DEEP
SEMI-PERMANENT LOW IN THE BARING SEA AND COLD TROUGH IN THE GREAT
PLAINS THAT WILL HELP TO KEEP THE EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE STABILIZED.
GFS SUGGESTS THE RIDGE COULD PUSH ONSHORE BY TUESDAY...BUT THAT MAY
EVEN BE A BIT TOO FAST.
WITH THE STABLE RIDGE ALONG 140W COLD NORTH FLOW WILL
CONTINUE...WITH POTENTIAL FOR INSIDE SLIDERS. GFS SHOWS A SLIDER
SYSTEM ON SATURDAY...THE MODEL IS DRY FOR NOW...BUT MODELS DO HAVE
DIFFICULTY WITH MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THESE SYSTEMS. HAVE ADDED
SOME VERY MINOR POPS INTO THE FORECAST...BUT LEFT ANY CHANCE OF SNOW
OUT OF THE FORECAST FOR NOW. HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO IGNORE THE GFS
EXTENDED GUIDANCE AS IT CONTINUES TO BE SKEWED BY CLIMATOLOGY WITH
BELOW NORMAL HEIGHTS ALOFT AND VALLEY INVERSIONS. TEMPERATURES WILL
WARM IN THE MOUNTAINS AS THE RIDGE REACHES 140W. VALLEY TEMPERATURES
WILL WARM MORE SLOWLY UNDER STRONG INVERSIONS.
HAZE WILL BUILD IN ALL THE WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS STARTING LATE THIS
WEEKEND. MODEL SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO INDICATE VALLEY FOG MAY BE AN
ISSUE IN AND AROUND THE CARSON AND HUMBOLDT SINKS SUNDAY NIGHT
THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT.
REX BLOCK COULD FORM OUT OF THIS RIDGE AS SHORT WAVE ENERGY
UNDERCUTS IT...AND ADDS MORE STABILITY TO THE PATTERN. LONG RANGE
MODEL SOLUTIONS MAINTAIN MEAN TROUGHS OVER EASTERN NORTH AMERICA AND
THE WESTERN PACIFIC. IF THIS IS TRUE...THE RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER
THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND PRECIPITATION WILL BE HARD TO COME BY
THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. BRONG
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS DETERIORATING TO MVFR AND LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS DUE TO
-SN IN NORTHERN PORTIONS OF CWA AFTER 18Z AS STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES
THRU AREA. INCREASING SW WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG COLD FRONT
WILL PRODUCE 40 TO 50 KT GUSTS IN NERN CA-NWRN NV AFTER 14Z AND THEN
FARTHER SOUTH AFTER 18Z. CRIPE
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY FOR NVZ005.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM TO 10 PM PST WEDNESDAY FOR NVZ001>003.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 4 AM TO 4 PM PST WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ070-071.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM TO 10 PM PST WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ072-073.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 56 knot (64 mph) wind gust was recorded by the NDOT sensor at Washoe Valley.
A 52 knot (60 mph) wind gust was recorded by the DRI sensor at Wolf Run Golf Course in south Reno.
A 50 knot (58 mph) wind gust was recorded by the NDOT sensor in Carson Valley.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10326, 10329, 10330.