A strong cold front moved through the northern and central Sierra and western Nevada on October 19th and 20th. Strong wind and locally heavy rainfall accompanied the cold front.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 strong cold front moved through the northern and central Sierra and western Nevada on October 19th and 20th. Strong wind and locally heavy rainfall accompanied the cold front.
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 Oct 19, 3:30 AM PST, 11 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
430 AM PDT FRI OCT 19 2007
.SHORT TERM...
STORM SYSTEM EVIDENT ON SATELLITE OFF THE PAC NW COAST WITH STRONG
160 KT JET AND MOISTURE PLUME SURGING ACROSS THE PACIFIC INTO THE
PAC NW AND NRN CA. THE MAIN CONCERN WITH THIS STORM IS THE WINDS.
WIND ADVISORIES WILL CONTINUE OVER NRN ZONES...WITH HIGH WIND
WARNINGS FROM RENO SOUTH. WINDS OVER THE RIDGES ARE ALREADY GUSTING
ABOVE 90 MPH ON SLIDE MOUNTAIN AND 70-80 MPH ELSEWHERE IN THE TAHOE
BASIN. THIS WAS WELL ADVERTISED BY THE 45 KTS 700 MB FLOW BY THE
MODELS. 700 MB WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 50-55 KTS THIS AFTERNOON WHICH
TRANSLATES TO RIDGE GUSTS PEAKING AROUND 110-115 MPH. ASIDE FROM THE
RIDGES...WINDS HAVE BEEN GUSTING 40-50 MPH OVER NRN WASHOE COUNTY
THIS MORNING AND WILL CONTINUE AND SPREAD SOUTH AS THE FRONT
APPROACHES. LOOKING AT A SOUNDING FROM AN AIRCRAFT DESCENDING INTO
RENO SHOWS A CLASSIC HIGH WIND SOUNDING WITH A VERY WELL DEFINED
CRITICAL LAYER AT RIDGE TOP. NRN ZONES WILL SEE THEIR STRONGEST
WINDS THIS MORNING AND MAY HIT HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA (WINDS >
58 MPH) IN LOCAL AREAS FOR A FEW HOURS. FOR NOW WILL LET THE
ADVISORY RIDE AND WORD HIGH END IN THE STATEMENT. FURTHER SOUTH
WINDS SHOULD NOT HAVE TOO MUCH TROUBLE REACHING 60-70 MPH FROM LATE
MORNING INTO THIS EVENING IN MANY AREAS FROM RENO SOUTH...SO
WARNINGS LOOK GOOD. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THIS
EVENING AND TONIGHT. SOME STATEMENTS NORTH OF RENO MAY NEED TO BE
CANCELLED EARLY DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH PRECIP DEVELOPS EAST OF THE
SIERRA AND HOW MUCH THAT DAMPENS THE STRONG FLOW. THE ONE THING THE
DAY SHIFT WILL HAVE TO MONITOR IS WINDS IN ADVISORY ZONES...WITH THE
POTENTIAL TO UPGRADE TO WARNINGS DEPENDING ON WHAT WINDS UP NORTH DO
THIS MORNING.
THE NEXT CONCERN WITH BE PRECIPITATION. AMSU DATA SHOWS PLUME OF
1.5+ INCHES PW STRETCHING ACROSS THE CENTRAL PAC INTO NRN CA. A WELL
DEFINED BAND OF RAIN AND SHOWERS EXTENDS ACROSS NRN CA AND OREGON
THIS MORNING. THIS AREA WILL SHIFT SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT INTO MODOC/NRN WASHOE/LASSEN AND TAHOE ZONES
ESPECIALLY. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO FALL IN THE
WARM SECTOR WHERE SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN ABOVE PASS LEVELS. MODELS
INDICATE OVER 0.5-0.75 INCHES OF QPF MAY FALL OVER THE SIERRA
CREST...AND MOSTLY AS RAIN. HOWEVER AS SNOW LEVELS DROP TONIGHT THE
SIERRA CREST COULD PICK UP 2-4 INCHES OF SNOW AT THE HIGHEST
ELEVATIONS. AREAS DOWN NEAR LAKE LEVEL SHOULD STAY RAIN FOR THE
MAJORITY OF THE EVENT...AND ONLY SOME SNOW SHOWERS ON SATURDAY WITH
LITTLE IF ANY ACCUMULATION EXPECTED.
AFTER ISOLD TO SCT SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA ON SATURDAY THE WEATHER
WILL BEGIN TO IMPROVE. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST
AND KEEP TEMPERATURES COOL THROUGH SUNDAY. NORTHEAST TO EAST WINDS
OVER LAKE TAHOE WILL LIKELY REMAIN GUSTSY...ESPECIALLY ON THE WEST
SHORE ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. LAKE WIND ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE
NEEDED ONE OR BOTH DAYS.
TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S TODAY IN WRN NV
VALLEYS AHEAD OF THE FRONT BEFORE DROPPING BACK INTO THE 50S AND LOW
60S ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY IN NORTHEAST FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT.
BENINATO
.LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...
UPPER RIDGE WILL DOMINATE DURING PERIOD WITH DRY AND MILD
TEMPERATURES. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE WILL BE THE DAYTIME HIGH
TEMPERATURES AS EAST FLOW AND INVERSIONS WILL SLOW WARMING FOR
VALLEYS EARLY IN PERIOD WITH MOUNTAIN TOPS TO WARM SIGNIFICANTLY.
EAST FLOW WILL WEAKEN AND BECOME LIGHT AT MID WEEK IN RESPONSE TO
LONGWAVE TROUGH SLIDING SOUTHWARD INTO THE LOWER 48 AND SUPPRESSING
UPPER RIDGE. OVERALL...MIXING WILL REMAIN VERY WEAK WITH DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES RISING SLOWLY TO THEIR PEAK WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY. THE
MAIN CHANGE WAS TO MODERATE THE WARMUP SOME AND KEEP HIGHS CLOSER TO
THE UPPER END OF THE MOS ENSEMBLE SUITE RATHER THAN ABOVE AS IN
PREVIOUS FORECAST. NO OTHER CHANGES. HOHMANN
&&
.AVIATION...
COLD FRONT AND RAIN BAND WILL SLOWLY WORK SOUTHWARD TOWARD AREA
TODAY WITH STRONG WINDS /WIDESPREAD SFC WND GUSTS APPROACHING 50KT/
IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. FOR AREA TAFS...STRONGEST WINDS
WILL OCCUR 22Z-04Z AND THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH AFTER 04Z BEHIND THE
COLD FRONT. CLOUDS/LIGHT SHOWERS WILL BRING SCT MVFR CONDITIONS AND
MT TOP OBSCUREMENT AT MOUNTAIN TAFS SITES TODAY. MAIN FRONTAL BAND
AND ASSOCIATED HEAVIER BAND OF SHOWERS WILL BRING DETERIORATING
CONDITIONS IN THE SIERRA 23Z-02Z WITH A PERIOD OF WIDESPREAD MVFR
AND SCT IFR CONDITIONS 02Z-10Z. FURTHER EAST OVER THE LOWER VALLEYS
SCT SHOWERS WILL BRING ONLY LOCAL MVFR CEILINGS AT KRNO/KLOL.
BLOWING DUST MAY REDUCE VISIBILITIES IN THE BASIN AND RANGE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING INCLUDING THE KLOL TAF SITE. VFR CONDITIONS
SATURDAY. HOHMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR NVZ005.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM PDT SATURDAY
FOR NVZ001.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING
FOR NVZ002-004.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR NVZ003.
CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR CAZ070-071.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 5 AM PDT SATURDAY
FOR CAZ073.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING
FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The NDOT sensor in Washoe Valley recorded a wind gust of 56 knots (64 mph).
The wind sensor at the Reno NWS Forecast Office recorded a wind gust of 50 knots (58 mph).
The Brawley Peaks RAWS near Aurora recorded a wind gust of 51 knots (59 mph).
The Little Valley RAWS sensor recorded a wind gust of 51 knots (59 mph).
The NDOT sensor at Walker Lake recorded a wind gust of 64 knots (74 mph).
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, October 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: 59304, 59305, 59306, 59307, 59308.