A strong storm system approaching the area brought high winds to central and northern Nevada.
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 LKN wrote it up.
A strong storm system approaching the area brought high winds to central and northern 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 Jan 4, 3:37 AM PST, 6 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 337 AM PST FRI JAN 4 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN REGION AND BRING WINDY CONDITIONS AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION BEGINNING FRIDAY NIGHT AND LASTING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE STRONGEST STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE SILVER STATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY. LATEST IR IMAGERY SHOWS DEEP H5 CLOSED LOW/TROUGH BEGINNING TO ADVANCE TOWARD THE WEST COAST. THIS STRONG SYSTEM WILL PUSH INTO THE GREAT BASIN FRI NIGHT AND SAT. AHEAD OF IT ON FRI MORNING...A VERY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL DEVELOP ACROSS NRN AND CNTRL NV AND BRING STRONG WINDS TO THE CWFA. LATEST WRF MODEL RUN ACTUALLY SHOWS ABOUT A 14 MB DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KELY AND KWMC. THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR CENTRAL NV FRIDAY STILL LOOKS ON TRACK. HOWEVER...AS A RESULT OF WRF/GFS MODELS INDICATING H7 WINDS AS HIGH AS 91 KTS/81 KTS AT KWMC AND 76 KTS/60 KTS AT KEKO ON FRI...DECIDED TO UPGRADE WIND ADVISORIES TO HIGH WIND WARNINGS... SAME VALID PERIOD...FOR NRN NV IN ALL ZONES EXCEPT NV033. DID ADJUST THE VALID TIME OF ADVISORY FOR NV033...WEST WENDOVER...TO BETTER REFLECT SYSTEM MOVEMENT. NEXT ISSUE--PRECIP WILL BEGIN IN FAR WRN PORTIONS OF STATE ON FRI MIDDAY WITH THE MAIN FRONTAL PRECIP BAND MOVING INTO CENTRAL NV EARLY FRI EVENING AND THEN SPREADING INTO ERN NV BY VERY EARLY SAT MORNING. MODELS STILL SHOWING GOOD QPF AMOUNTS WITH THIS FRONTAL BAND...VALUES STILL RANGING FROM 0.45 TO 0.90 INCH WHICH TRANSLATES TO WHAT HAS BEEN FORECAST ALL ALONG...5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW. THUS...TIMING AND EXTENT OF WINTER STORM WARNING...WSW...FOR FRI NIGHT THROUGH SAT MORNING LOOKS GOOD FOR MAJORITY OF CWFA. SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES ALSO LOOK GOOD FOR ZONES 30 AND 33 SINCE PRECIP WILL INITIALLY FALL AS RAIN. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE WSW WILL HAVE TO BE EXTENDED BUT WILL CROSS THAT BRIDGE LATER. REASON-- CONTINUING W-SWRLY CYCLONIC FLOW ON SAT AFTERNOON AND SUN WILL BRING SEVERAL EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES THROUGH OUR REGION. THIS WILL KEEP INTERMITTENT SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AREA THROUGH SUN AND WILL LIKELY RESULT IN ANOTHER 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE VALLEYS. AWG .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY...MODELS IN FAIRLY DECENT AGREEMENT FOR THE LONG TERM. BOTH THE GFS AND THE ECMWF SHOW THE STRONG LOW PRESSURE TROUGH EXITING THE REGION. AS IT DOES SO... THERE WILL BE SEVERAL WEAK SHORT WAVES THAT PASS OVER THE GREAT BASIN. BY TUESDAY 00Z A RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD. AS IT DOES A JET MAX WILL MOVE OVER THE RIDGE AND OVER THE SILVER STATE. GFS HAS THE JET STREAK MUCH STRONGER THEN THE EC WITH MAX WINDS IN EXCESS OF 170 KTS. THE ECMWF ALSO HAS A JET STREAK BUT MUCH WEAKER...COMING IN AT AROUND 120 KTS. EITHER WAY BELIEVE THIS WILL CREATE ENOUGH DYNAMICS TO KEEP CHANCE POPS ACROSS NORTHERN NEVADA AND SLIGHT CHANCE OVER CENTRAL NEVADA ON TUESDAY. THIS RIDGE WILL BE SHORT LIVED AND WILL PUSH OFF TO THE EAST BY WED 00Z. TUESDAY NIGHT WILL SEE THE NEXT TROUGH APPROACH THE AREA. WHILE THIS SYSTEM BOTH MODELS ARE INDICATING ADDITIONAL PRECIPITATION. BOTH ARE SHOWING LIQUID PRECIPITATION EQUIVALENTS OF .5 TO .75 INCHES BETWEEN TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. HAVE NOT PUT THESE TOTALS IN THE GRIDS YET AS IT IS STILL A WAYS OFF. THIS TROUGH ALSO QUICKLY EJECTS EASTWARD AHEAD OF THE NEXT TROUGH ACCOMPANIED BY A 150 KT JET MAX. AS FOR CHANGES MADE TO THE GRIDS...NOT MANY MADE EXCEPT SOME TWEAKS HERE AND THERE. DID COOL TEMPS SOMEWHAT WITH THE COMING SNOWPACK EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AND CONTINUED INJECTIONS OF COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGHS. IPPI && .AVIATION...EXPECTING CONTINUED VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE DAY TODAY. THERE WILL BE SOME DEVELOPING AREAS OF PRECIPITATION. WITHIN THESE AREAS...IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CONDITIONS MAY FALL TO IFR OR EVEN LOWER. HOWEVER...THE MAIN CONCERN FOR TODAY ARE THE HIGH WINDS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NEVADA. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE LATER THIS MORNING TO BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MPH SUSTAINED WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. MID LEVEL WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE EXTREME WITH WINDS AROUND 10000 MSL PICKING UP TO AROUND 80 MPH IN AREAS. THESE WINDS SHOULD GENERALLY BE FROM THE SOUTH-SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FOR NVZ030>032-034>037-013 FROM 10 AM FRIDAY MORNING TO 10 PM LATE FRIDAY EVENING WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NVZ031-032-034-036-037 FROM 8 PM FRIDAY TO 7 AM SATURDAY. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NVZ013-035 FROM 12 AM SATURDAY TO 10 AM SATURDAY MORNING. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY NVZ030 FROM 6 PM FRIDAY TO 4 AM SATURDAY. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR NVZ033 FROM 12 AM SATURDAY TO 10 AM SATURDAY. WIND ADVISORY FOR NVZ033 FROM 4 PM FRIDAY UNTIL 12 AM SATURDAY.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 250 PM PST THU JAN 3 2008 NVZ013-030>037-041300- EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY-HUMBOLDT COUNTY-NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY- NORTHERN LANDER AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTIES-NORTHERN NYE COUNTY- RUBY MOUNTAINS/EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE- SOUTHERN LANDER AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTIES- SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY-WHITE PINE COUNTY- 250 PM PST THU JAN 3 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY A STRONG STORM SYSTEM APPROACHING THE REGION WILL BRING VERY WINDY CONDITIONS TO NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA BY LATE FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA. OVER NORTHERN NEVADA SUSTAINED WINDS OF 25 TO 35 WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED. THEREFORE A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR CENTRAL NEVADA AND A WIND ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN NEVADA HAS BEEN POSTED. PLEASE SEE PRODUCT RNONPWLKN FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. A STRONG STORM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA BEGINNING FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED IN THE VALLEYS WITH ONE TO TWO FEET IN THE MOUNTAINS. PLEASE SEE RNOWSWLKN FOR MORE DETAILS. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF SATURDAY AFTERNOON BUT SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. CEC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Long Hollow RAWS site had a wind gust to 64 mph.
A wind gust to 66 mph was recorded at the National Weather Service Forecast office 2 miles northeast of downtown Elko. The high winds blew over a semi-truck on Interstate 80 near Ryndon. Power lines were also blown down causing a widespread power outage over the southern portion of Elko.
A wind gust to 68 mph was recorded by the Ruby Valley RAWS site.
A wind gust to 63 mph was recorded at the Austin RAWS site.
A weather spotter in Baker reported a wind gust to 82 mph and the Ely ASOS |reported a wind gust to 74 mph. The high winds partially blew off a roof from the Baker Elementary School and caused a power outage in the town of Baker.
The Morey Creek RAWS site had a wind gust to 75 mph.
A wind gust of 84 mph was recorded at the Warm Springs Summit Mesonet |site. The high winds blew down power lines in Tonopah and the entire town was without power for over 1 hour.
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: 64941, 64944, 64945, 64943, 64946, 64940, 64942.