Sub-zero temperatures combined with 10 to 15 mph winds caused wind chill values as low as -35 degrees as portions of central Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 LKN wrote it up.
Sub-zero temperatures combined with 10 to 15 mph winds caused wind chill values as low as -35 degrees as portions of central 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 Elko, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 26, 2:10 PM PST, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 210 PM PST FRI DEC 26 2008 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE REGION WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO PLUMMET UNDER CLEARING SKIES AND A FRESH SNOW PACK EARLY TONIGHT BEFORE CLOUDS AGAIN INCREASE LATER TONIGHT. A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL BRING SOME LIGHT MIXED RAIN AND SNOW MAINLY TO NORTHERN AREAS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY IS INDICATING THE STRATOCU DECK OF CLOUDS SLOWLY THINNING AS SUBSIDENCE STRENGTHENS BENEATH A BUILDING RIDGE AT THE SURFACE/ALOFT OVER THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. WITH THE LOSS OF HEATING...EXPECT MANY LOCATIONS TO BE CLEAR/PARTLY CLOUDY FOR SEVERAL HOURS ALLOWING TEMPERATURES TO REACH SUBZERO VALUES IN MANY LOCATIONS EARLY TONIGHT. HOWEVER...CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE AS A WEAK SHORT WAVE MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WHICH WILL HELP CAP TEMPERATURES LATER TONIGHT. LATEST 12Z MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT WEAK FORCING WITHIN THE MID LEVEL WAA PATTERN ASSOCIATED WITH A WARM FRONT JUST CLIPPING THE STATE WILL PRODUCE A PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW OR MIXED PRECIPITATION MAINLY FOR HUMBOLDT AND NORTHERN ELKO COUNTIES DURING SATURDAY. AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE OVER EXTREME NORTHERN HUMBOLDT AND NORTHERN ELKO COUNTIES WITH AN INCH OR LESS ELSEWHERE OVER THE REMAINDER OF NORTHERN NEVADA SATURDAY. RESIDUAL MOISTURE HOLDS ON ACROSS THE STATE RESULTING IN MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS SATURDAY NIGHT. MODEL SOUNDINGS ARE INDICATING THE DEPLETION OF HIGH CLOUDS OVER HUMBOLDT/ELKO COUNTIES WHICH MAY POSSIBLY LEAD TO SOME PATCHY FREEZING DRIZZLE WITH ISOTHERMAL PROFILE IN THE SUBCLOUD LAYER WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IN PLACE. WITH CLOUDS IN PLACE EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO BE AT LEAST 10 TO 15 DEGREES WARMER SATURDAY NIGHT VS. FRIDAY NIGHT. A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES MAINLY NORTH OF THE STATE TRAVERSING THROUGH THE ZONAL FLOW IS EXPECTED TO KEEP UNSETTLED CONDITIONS ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA ALONG WITH MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS FURTHER SOUTH SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...THE MODELS BRING A RELATIVELY WEAK COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ON MONDAY NIGHT. DID BELIEVE THAT THIS WARRANTED SOME LOW CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES GIVEN THE GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT. THE BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE MODELS COMES ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY REGARDING THE UPPER PATTERN. THE LATEST GFS BRINGS A SIGNIFICANT SYSTEM THROUGH THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY/NEW YEARS EVE...WHILE THE ECMWF IS DRY AND TRYING TO BUILD A RIDGE OVER THE REGION. THE CANADIAN...06Z GFS...AND THE GFS ENSEMBLES SHOW THE POTENTIAL FOR A SYSTEM AS WELL BUT NOT NEARLY AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE 12Z OPERATIONAL GFS. DECIDED TO GO WITH SOME PRECIPITATION POTENTIAL IN THE NORTH...BUT KEPT CHANCES LOW FOR NOW. GIVEN THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE UPPER PATTERN TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK...DECREASED CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION SLIGHTLY. ALSO KEPT TEMPERATURES NEAR THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD FOR NOW AS WELL. && .AVIATION...LINGERING LOW LEVEL CLOUDS WILL DISSIPATE QUICKLY THIS EVENING UNDER GOOD SUBSIDENCE. MID LEVEL CLOUDS WILL INCREASE LATER TONIGHT AS WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT BEGINS. CONSIDERED FOG POTENTIAL TONIGHT AS WELL GIVEN THE RECENT PRECIP AND WARM AIR ADVECTION ALOFT. BELIEVE INCREASING CLOUD COVER WILL LIMIT RADIATIONAL COOLING HOWEVER. WITH THE WARM AIR ADVECTION...SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE AT KWMC BY SUNRISE AND AT EKO BY LATE MORNING. WILL LIKELY DROP KEKO AND KWMC TO MVFR CATEGORY FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED TIME FRAMES WITH THE NEXT TAF ISSUANCE. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 89/88/83
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Temperatures dipped down to 14 degrees below zero at Ely. This combined with winds of 10 to 15 mph created wind chill values as low as 35 degrees below zero.
Temperatures dropping to 6 below zero combined with winds of 10 to 12 mph created wind chill values as low as 25 degrees below zero at the Eureka airport.
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, December 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: 139365, 139367.