Scattered thunderstorms occurred across western Nevada during the afternoon and evening of June 21st. Small hail and gusty winds were common with the thunderstorms.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Scattered thunderstorms occurred across western Nevada during the afternoon and evening of June 21st. Small hail and gusty winds were common with the thunderstorms.
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 Jun 21, 8:53 AM PST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
953 AM PDT SAT JUN 21 2008
.UPDATE...
.SHORT TERM...
LIGHTNING ACTIVITY OVER NRN CA BEGINNING TO DECREASE BUT WITH
SHORT WAVE TROF OFFSHORE POISED TO MOVE INLAND EXPECT INSTABILITY
TO INCREASE THROUGH THE LATE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON RESULTING
IN AN INCREASE IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH THE
BEST CHANCE FOR SCATTERED COVERAGE NORTH OF SUSANVILLE...AND THEN
SPREADING EAST INTO THE WESTERN NV BASIN AND RANGE THROUGH THE
EVENING. WHILE MSTR WILL INCREASE SOMEWHAT THROUGH THE DAY MEAN
WIND VECTORS IN THE H7 TO H5 LAYER ARE LIKELY TO RESULT IN STORM
MOVEMENT CLOSE TO 30 KTS. THIS SHOULD ELIMINATE MUCH CHANCE FOR
ANY SIG PCPN REACHING THE GROUND. WILL MENTION ONLY TSTMS FOR THE
AFTER WITH NO SHOWERS. MID LVL AIRMASS LIKELY TO MOISTEN ENOUGH
BY EVENING FOR A FEW SHOWERS SO WILL ADD SHOWERS AS THE SHORT
WAVES PROGRESS EAST. SECONDARY SHORT WAVE SHOULD PRODUCE BEST
COVERAGE NORTH AND EAST OF LOVELOCK DURING THE EVENING. MLF
.FIRE WEATHER...
AS SHORT WAVE LIFTS INTO NORTHERN CA THIS AFTERNOON...SCATTERED TSTMS
WILL DEVELOP MAINLY NORTH OF SUSANVILLE WITH ISOLATED TSTMS SOUTH
ALONG THE SIERRA CREST AND INTO THE SIERRA FRONT BY LATE AFTERNOON.
SPEED OF MOVEMENT OF THESE WILL BE VERY FAST RESULTING IN LITTLE
IF ANY MEASURABLE RAINFALL. ANY LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL COMBINE
WITH MARGINALLY CRITICAL FUELS AND LACK OF RAINFALL TO CREATE
CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR NUMEROUS FIRE STARTS THIS AFTERNOON FROM
SUSANVILLE NORTH...WHILE FURTHER SOUTH LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL BE
MUCH MORE ISOLATED IN NATURE AND THUS SIG NEW FIRE STARTS ARE NOT
ANTICIPATED. THE CONDITIONS MOST FAVORABLE FOR NEW FIRE STARTS
WILL SPREAD FROM NORTHEAST CA NORTH OF SUSANVILLE AND FAR NW NV
INTO THE WESTERN NV BASIN AND RANGE BY EARLY EVENING. GUSTY
SOUTHWEST WINDS APPROACHING 35 MPH WILL FAVOR FIRE GROWTH FOR ANY
NEW STARTS AS WELL. WILL ISSUE RED FLAG WARNINGS FOR THE MOST
CRITICAL AREAS OUTLINED ABOVE. TSTMS SHOULD MOVE EAST OF THE
FORECAST AREA BY LATE EVENING DECREASING THE THREAT OF NEW STARTS.
LOWER HUMIDITIES WILL PUSH INTO THE FORECAST AREA ON SUNDAY WITH
GUSTY SURFACE WINDS CONTINUING. MLF
&&
.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...ISSUED 346 AM PDT SAT JUN 21 2008...
SHORT TERM...
ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN EXPECTED THIS AFTN AND EVENING WITH QUIET
CONDITIONS SUNDAY AND MONDAY. THE UPPER LOW THAT HAS BEEN QUASI-
STATIONARY OFF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS
SHOULD NOT MOVE MUCH THROUGH MONDAY. HOWEVER A SERIES OF
SHORTWAVES ARE PROGGED TO MOVE THROUGH THE UPPER FLOW AND AFFECT
THE NWRN QUARTER OF THE CONUS.
THE FIRST...AND STRONGEST...OF THE SHORTWAVES CAN BE SEEN ON THE
LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY. A PREFRONTAL TROUGH ASSOCIATED WITH THE
MAIN BAROCLINIC ZONE IS CURRENTLY PRODUCING LIGHTNING OVER NRN
CALIFORNIA AND SRN OREGON. THE SWLY FLOW SHOULD KEEP MOST OF THE
CONVECTION TO THE NW OF THE KREV CWFA. HOWEVER ISOLATED TSTMS ARE
POSSIBLE IN NWRN LASSEN CA AND NRN WASHOE NV COUNTIES THIS MORNING.
TSTMS WILL SPREAD SOUTH ALONG THE SIERRA AND INTO WRN NEVADA THIS
AFTN AS THE LWR AIR MASS BECOMES MORE UNSTABLE. THE LOCAL HIGH
LEVEL TOTAL TOTALS PRODUCT SHOWS THE BEST INSTABILITY ACROSS THE
SIERRA AND WRN NEVADA BETWEEN 00Z AND 06Z SUNDAY. BOTH THE NAM AND
GFS ARE PROGGING HLTT VALUES OF AROUND 30C BY 00Z.
THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD BE STRONG WINDS. SOME
SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER THE LLVL SHEAR IN NOT IMPRESSIVE.
THE NAM AND GFS BOTH SHOW NEGLIGIBLE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR FROM 850-700
MB. BUT THE LACK OF SHEAR WILL ALLOW WINDS ALOFT TO MIX TO THE SFC
AROUND THE TIME OF MAXIMUM HEATING. BOTH MODELS SHOW THE STRONGEST
WINDS TO BE IN THE LATE AFTN/EVENING AROUND 00Z SUNDAY.
THE UPPER TROUGH SHOULD MOVE TO THE EAST ON SUNDAY WITH THE AIR MASS
STABILIZING THROUGHOUT THE DAY. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL APPROACH THE
PACIFIC NW ON MONDAY BUT IT SHOULD REMAIN FAR ENOUGH NORTH TO NOT
HAVE ANY APPRECIABLE EFFECT ON OUR AREA. THE FLAT SWRN CONUS RIDGE
SHOULD STRENGTHEN SOMEWHAT ON MONDAY AND TURN OUR SYNOPTIC FLOW MORE
TO THE SW. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH
MONDAY. OHARA
LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
LITTLE CHANGE IN THINKING WITH REGARD TO LONGWAVE PATTERN AND
WEAKNESS DEVELOPING OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST DURING PERIOD. TROUGH
OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA WILL RETROGRADE AND ALLOW HEIGHTS TO
RISE OVER THE PACNW. A PIECE OF ENERGY WILL SPLIT OFF THE MAIN FLOW
AND DRIFT SOUTHWARD OFFSHORE THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST BY THE END
OF THE WEEK. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR DECREASING WINDS AND A TURN MORE TO
THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ALOFT. LIGHT WINDS AND TEMPERATURES
CONTINUING ABOVE NORMAL WILL ALLOW FOR BUILDUP OF INSTABILITY. THERE
MAY BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TO PRODUCE
AN ISOLATED CELL OR TWO FROM I-80 SOUTH. IN ADDITION...BOTH THE GFS
AND ECMWF SHOW WEAK SHORTWAVE IN NORTHERN STREAM WHICH PUTS NORTHERN
AREAS OF THE FORECAST AREA IN RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF JET. THE GFS
PULLS 700-500MB MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO DEFORMATION LATE WEDNESDAY
SUCH THAT MODIFIED TOTALS AND LARGE SCALE LIFT WOULD SUGGEST
NOCTURNAL CONVECTION FROM LASSEN INTO NORTHWEST NEVADA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT. THE EARLIER INCLUSION OF THUNDER WAS THE ONLY CHANGE TO THE
EXTENDED PERIOD. HOHMANN
FIRE WEATHER...
TROUGH CONTINUES OFFSHORE WITH ONE SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE PACNW
AND ENHANCING BAND OF CONVECTION OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. SOME OF
THESE STORMS MAY MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF ZONE 270-271 AND FAR NORTHWEST
NEVADA THIS MORNING. STORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING QUICKLY NORTHEAST AND
THEREFORE RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT. SECOND SHORTWAVE WILL
ACCOMPANY MAIN TROUGH LATER TODAY WITH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
EXPECTED. THE AIRMASS IS FORECAST TO BECOME INCREASINGLY MORE
UNSTABLE WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE BEST POTENTIAL WILL BE ACROSS AREAS
NORTH OF I-80 WHERE MOISTURE WILL DEEPEN. STORMS WILL AGAIN BE FAST
MOVING ALTHOUGH WETTER THAN THE ONES THIS MORNING. FIRE OFFICIALS
SHOULD MONITOR THE CONVECTIVE TRENDS AND FORECASTS CLOSELY. A MUCH
DRIER WESTERLY FLOW SUNDAY WILL AGGRAVATE ANY NEW STARTS. HOHMANN
AVIATION...
UPPER TROUGH AND FRONT WILL APPROACH TODAY WITH INCREASING SOUTH
FLOW AT AREA TAF SITES THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS HAVE SLOWED THE TIMING
DOWN A BIT AND SUGGEST MORE BACKING OF THE LOW LEVEL WIND PROFILES
AT LEAST THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF THE AFTERNOON. THIS WILL ALLOW
FOR A SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE SIERRA FRONT
ALTHOUGH WINDS ARE STILL EXPECTED TO TURN WESTERLY BY LATE AFTERNOON
AND PUSH ISOLD STORMS/CUMULUS BUILDUPS EAST OF RENO AND INTO THE
BASIN AND RANGE THIS EVENING. SO BEST CHANCE OF ISOLATED STORMS AT
KRNO AND TAHOE BASIN TAF SITES WILL BE FROM 18Z-23Z WITH FOCUS
SHIFTING EAST TO KLOL AFTER 23Z. WEST WINDS WILL KICK IN AND GUST
25-30KT AT KRNO/KTRK/KTVL BY 23Z. HOHMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR NVZ002-004.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR NVZ458.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 5 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR NVZ453.
CA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM TO 5 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR CAZ271-
278.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR CAZ071-072.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS
EVENING FOR CAZ270.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The wind sensor at NAS Fallon recorded a wind gust of 52 knots (60 mph).
The DRI wind sensor in the Carson Sink recorded a wind gust of 56 knots (64 mph). The gusty winds were the result of outflows from earlier thunderstorms near Fallon.
A trained weather spotter located one mile SSE of Hawthorne estimated a wind gust of 54 knots (62 mph).
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, June 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: 98480, 98486, 98495.