A fast moving snowstorm dropped up to 2 feet of snowfall in the Sierra.
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 fast moving snowstorm dropped up to 2 feet of snowfall in the Sierra.
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 29, 7:11 AM PST, 6 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
711 AM PST TUE JAN 29 2008
.UPDATE...
HAVE DECIDED TO INCREASE WINDS ALONG THE EASTERN SIERRA AND FAR
WESTERN NEVADA INTO THE WIND ADVISORY CATEGORY. MODEL CROSS
SECTIONS AREA SHOWING A DEEP MOUNTAIN WAVE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE
EAST SLOPES FROM RENO SOUTHWARD TO MONO AND MINERAL COUNTIES THIS
AFTERNOON. NAM AND LOCAL WRF MODELS SHOW THE STRONGEST AND
SHARPEST MOUNTAIN WAVE WITH 45 TO 50 MPH WINDS CRASHING DOWN TO
THE SURFACE. GUSTS IN WIND PRONE AREAS MAY REACH 60 MPH.
WIND OBSERVATIONS IN THE RIDGE TOPS IN MONO COUNTY ARE CURRENTLY
50 MPH GUSTING TO 70 MPH WHICH IS NEARLY DOUBLE WHAT THE MODELS
ARE SHOWING. THE 700 MB WINDS ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE TO 50 TO 60
KTS ALONG THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON. WOULD NOT BE SURPIRSED TO SEE
A FEW MOUNTAIN TOP GUSTS EXCEED 100 MPH. BRONG
&&
.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 356 AM PST TUE JAN 29 2008/
SHORT TERM...
THE PROGRESSIVE SYNOPTIC PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE SHORT
TERM. ON SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS MORNING THE NEXT IN A SERIES OF
UPPER LOWS CAN BE CLEARLY SEEN JUST WEST OF VANCOUVER ISLAND AND
MOVING QUICKLY TO THE SE.
THIS SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO SRN BRITISH COLUMBIA TODAY AND THEN REACH
THE NRN ROCKIES BY 12Z WEDNESDAY. THE LATEST MODELS DO NOT DIG THE
TROUGH TOO FAR TO THE SOUTH TODAY WITH ITS BASE ONLY SKIRTING THE
NRN SIERRA. A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE CNRTL SIERRA TONIGHT WITH PRECIP EXTENDING FROM LASSEN
COUNTY THIS AFTN TO MONO COUNTY THIS EVENING. SNOWFALL WILL NOT BE
SIGNIFICANT WITH THIS SYSTEM DUE TO THE LACK OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF
ADVECTED MOISTURE AND THE FAST MOVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM.
WIND WILL BE A PROBLEM THIS AFTN AND EVENING ACROSS THE KREV CWFA.
THIS IS DUE TO THE SHARP PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE RIDGE OVER
THE ERN PACIFIC THE THE TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE NWRN CONUS. A SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS AFTN AND EVENING
FOR THE NRN AND CNTRL SIERRA FROM LASSEN COUNTY SOUTH TO AND
INCLUDING THE TAHOE BASIN.
ON WEDNESDAY THE PACIFIC RIDGE SHOULD BUILD BACK TO THE NORTH IN
RESPONSE TO THE UPPER TROUGH MOVING EAST. NWLY FLOW HOWEVER WILL
KEEP DAYTIME TEMPERATURES IN THE 30S IN WRN NEVADA AND THE 20S IN
THE SIERRA. ON THURSDAY A SECOND SYSTEM IS PROGGED TO TAKE A
SIMILAR TRACK AS THE ONE MOVING THROUGH OUR REGION TODAY. LARGER
AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM AS THE COLD FRONT
BRINGS PRECIP TO THE NRN SIERRA BY THURSDAY AFTN. THIS WILL
CONTINUE THE WELCOME ADDITIONS TO THE SIERRA SNOWPACK THAT WE HAVE
EXPERIENCED THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF JANUARY. OHARA
LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
ONLY MADE A FEW CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. BREAK IN THE ACTION ON
FRIDAY...AS NEXT IMPRESSIVE SYSTEM NEARS THE COAST FOR SATURDAY.
INCREASED POPS IN THE SIERRA SOUTH OF TAHOE DUE TO THE FAVORABLE
POSITION OF THE UPPER TROUGH IN BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS. MAY NOT BE
A HUGE EVENT FOR MONO COUNTY...BUT CERTAINLY ENOUGH TO WARRANT
HIGHER POPS. ALSO INCREASED POPS FOR SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH A
SLIDER TYPE SYSTEM DEVELOPING ON THE BACK SIDE OF SATURDAY/S TROUGH.
RIDGE RETURNS ON MONDAY WITH ANOTHER SYSTEM ON ITS HEELS FOR
TUESDAY.
OVERALL TEMPERATURES WILL BE JUST BELOW NORMAL WITH THE COLD AND
FAST FLOW. WINDS MAY ALSO BE AN ISSUE AS THE MODELS ARE HAVING
TROUBLE KEEPING UP WITH THE FAST FLOW. BASED ON THE LAST COUPLE
SYSTEMS...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE UNDERESTIMATING THE STRENGTH OF
THE JET AND BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS. BRONG
AVIATION...
SNOW RETURNS TO THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON AS THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES
IN FROM 18Z THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY. IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS DUE TO SNOW
AND BLOWING SNOW AT KTVL AND KTRK. WINDS MAY GUST AS HIGH AS 40 KTS
IN THE SIERRA AND FAR WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS. OVER THE SIERRA
RIDGES...GUSTS OF 75 KTS OR MORE ARE LIKELY WITH MOUNTAIN WAVES AND
TURBULENCE. COULD ALSO BE A PERIOD OF LLWS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS
THE WINDS OFF THE SURFACE INCREASE BEFORE COUPLING WITH THE SURFACE
WINDS.
SNOW IN THE WESTERN NEVADA VALLEYS WILL BE LIGHTER THAN WHAT OCCURS
IN THE SIERRA...BUT STILL SHOULD SEE REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND
CEILINGS DOWN TO MVFR AND PERHAPS IFR AT TIMES. BRONG
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT PST
TONIGHT FOR NVZ002.
WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR
NVZ001-003.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR
NVZ004.
CA...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO MIDNIGHT PST
TONIGHT FOR CAZ071-072.
WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR
CAZ073.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Diamond Peak Ski Resort reported a total of 8 inches of snowfall overnight.
A trained weather spotter located 8 miles south of Reno reported a 56 knot (65 mph) wind gust.
A trained weather spotter located 5 miles WSW of Gardnerville reported a 53 knot (61 mph) wind gust. The strong wind blew an antenna off of his roof.
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, January 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: 112489, 70480, 70490.