A cold front moving through northeast California and northwest Nevada produced strong gusty winds across the region. Areas of blowing dust caused visibility problems in western Nevada.
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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 moving through northeast California and northwest Nevada produced strong gusty winds across the region. Areas of blowing dust caused visibility problems in 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 Apr 29, 3:32 AM PST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
432 AM PDT TUE APR 29 2008
.SHORT TERM...
WINDS ARE ALREADY GUSTING 25 TO 35 MPH EARLY THIS MORNING IN FAR
WESTERN NEVADA AND NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA AS THE SURFACE PRESSURE
GRADIENT CONTINUES TO INCREASE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT CURRENTLY
OVER FAR NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN OREGON. WITH PYRAMID LAKE
ALREADY GUSTING 25 TO 30 MPH EARLY THIS MORNING...I RAISED A LAKE
WIND ADVISORY FOR PYRAMID LAKE UNTIL THE OVERALL WIND ADVISORY FOR
ZONE 4 KICKS IN LATER THIS MORNING.
SOLID WIND ADVISORIES...ESPECIALLY FROM SUSANVILLE TO GERLACH
SOUTHWARD...STILL LOOKS QUITE GOOD FOR LATE THIS MORNING INTO THE
EVENING PERIOD. THE SURFACE GRADIENT IN THE GFS IS STILL SHOWING
AN IMPRESSIVE 8-10 MB FROM WESTERN TO CENTRAL NEVADA AT 00Z
WEDNESDAY. OUR LOCAL 8 KM WRF MODEL IS PINNING ON THE 20Z-02Z
PERIOD FOR THE STRONGEST WINDS AS THE BEST DAYTIME HEATING
INTENSIFIES THE GRADIENT ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. IT
SHOWS A PERIOD OF SCATTERED 40-45 KTS...WITH 50-60 KTS IN THE
FOOTHILLS WEST OF RENO AND SOUTH NEAR HIGHWAY 395...MOST LIKELY
FOR THE TYPICAL WIND PRONE AREAS. THIS JIVES WELL WITH CURRENT
STATEMENT THINKING.
WEDNESDAY WILL FEATURE COOL NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND HIGHS
EXPECTED TO TOP OUT WELL BELOW AVERAGE...WITH THE UPPER 50S TO
LOWER 60S IN THE LOWER VALLEYS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. THURSDAY
WILL BRING A 5 TO 10 DEGREE WARM UP OVER WEDNESDAY WITH LIGHTER
WINDS AND GOOD EARLY MAY HEATING. SNYDER
.LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
OPERATIONAL GFS AND ECMWF STARTING TO DIVERGE MORE IN THE EXTENDED
FORECAST THIS CYCLE WITH ENSEMBLES CLUSTERING AROUND SUPPORT FOR
BOTH...BUT SLIGHTLY MORE SUPPORT GFS SOLUTION. WHILE BOTH START
WITH A FAIRLY FLAT RIDGE OVER THE RGN ON FRIDAY...BREAKING DOWN AS A
SHORT WAVE TROF CARVES OVER THE RIDGE INTO THE GREAT BASIN. THE
ECMWF IS MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH BOTH THE TIMING AND AMPLITUDE OF
THIS TROF BY SATURDAY. ECMWF IS PRODUCING MUCH MORE PCPN BY SAT WITH
SOMEWHAT COOLER TEMPS AS CLOSED LOW DEVELOPS OVER THE SIERRA BY SUN
MRNG. GIVEN QUITE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS HAVE OPTED TO ADJUST VERY
LITTLE FOR FRIDAY AND SAT THIS FORECAST. WILL KEEP LOW POPS IN THE
FORECAST FOR FRI AFTN AND EVENING ACROSS THE FAR NRN CWA BUT NOTHING
FOR SAT YET. AS TRAJECTORY OF THIS SYSTEM TAKES IT OVER THE INTERIOR
PAC NW BEFORE DROPPING INTO THE GREAT BASIN THINK IT MAY BE SOMEWHAT
MSTR STARVED...SO ECMWF IS PROBABLY A BIT OVER DONE WITH PCPN
DEPICTION. OPERATIONAL GFS DOES DEVELOP A CLOSED LOW BY LATE SUN
ACROSS THE ERN GREAT BASIN...MUCH SLOWER AND FARTHER EAST THAN THE
ECMWF. WILL INCREASE POPS SLIGHTLY ACROSS THE FAR ERN AND NE CWA SAT
NIGHT INTO SUN AND BEGIN TO COOL TEMPS A FEW DEGREES. SHORT WAVE
RIDGE SHOULD DEVELOP BY MON BUT MODELS ALSO DIFFER ON ITS AMPLITUDE
AND SPEED OF MOVEMENT TO THE EAST WITH ECMWF SHOWING A MORE
PROGRESSIVE PATTERN. AGAIN ENSEMBLES HAVE SUPPORT FOR BOTH ECMWF AND
OPERATIONAL GFS. WITH MUCH UNCERTAINTY THIS FAR OUT WILL OPT TO MAKE
ONLY MINOR COSMETIC CHANGES TO MONDAY PORTION OF THE EXTENDED. MLF
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR CIGS AND VSBYS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR ALL TAF SITES TODAY AND
THIS EVENING WITH EXCEPTION THAT KLOL MAY SEE BRIEF PERIODS OF
REDUCED VSBYS DUE TO BLOWING DUST. WINDS WILL INCREASE ALL TAF SITES
LATER THIS MORNING WITH KRNO LIKELY EXPERIENCING THE STRONGEST
WINDS. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 KTS WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 40 KT FROM
THE WEST ARE POSSIBLE LATER TODAY AT KRNO. WINDS WILL BE JUST BELOW
THESE SPEEDS AT OTHER SITES AS WELL. TURBULENCE EXPECTED TO INCREASE
THROUGH THE DAY AS WELL. MLF
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON
FOR NVZ005.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
NVZ001.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR NVZ002-004.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM PDT THIS EVENING
FOR NVZ002>004.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON
FOR CAZ070-071.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 1 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR
CAZ073.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PDT THIS MORNING FOR CAZ072.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM PDT THIS EVENING
FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The wind sensor located 2 miles south of Washoe City in Washoe Valley recorded a wind gust of 54 knots (62 mph).
The APRS wind sensor in south Reno recorded a wind gust of 50 knots (58 mph) at an elevation of 4790 ft.
The Galena RAWS recorded a wind gust of 59 knots (68 mph).
The DRI sensor at Wolf Run Golf Course in southwest Reno recorded a wind gust of 59 knots (68 mph).
A wind gust of 57 knots (66 mph) was reported at the NWS Forecast Office in north Reno. Sustained winds at the time were 36 knots (42 mph).
The Nevada DOT sensor near the junction of U.S. Highways 395 and 50 West in south Carson City recorded a wind gust of 52 knots (60 mph).
The Desert Springs RAWS recorded a wind gust of 52 knots (60 mph).
The Nevada DOT sensor at Five Mile Flat 3 miles NNW of Virginia City recorded a wind gust of 57 knots (66 mph).
A trained weather spotter located 5 miles WSW of Gardnerville reported a wind gust of 56 knots (65 mph).
The Nevada DOT sensor located 2 miles south of Washoe City in Washoe Valley recorded a wind gust of 60 knots (69 mph).
The Galena RAWS recorded a wind gust of 62 knots (71 mph).
The Nevada DOT sensor at Walker Lake recorded a wind gust of 50 knots (58 mph).
The DRI sensor at Western Nevada Community College in Carson City recorded a wind gust of 50 knots (58 mph) at an elevation of 5035 ft.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2008
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: 87152, 87154, 87159, 87162, 87166, 87169, 87171, 87172, 87175, 87176, 87177, 87181, 87186.