A strong cold front moved through the northern Sierra and northwestern Nevada on March 26th. Strong winds were experienced ahead of, and with, the cold front.
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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 strong cold front moved through the northern Sierra and northwestern Nevada on March 26th. Strong winds were experienced ahead of, and with, the cold front.
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 Mar 25, 12:53 PM PST, 8 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
153 PM PDT TUE MAR 25 2008
.SHORT TERM...
WEAK COLD FRONT DRAPED ACROSS THE OREGON BORDER THIS AFTERNOON
WITH CLOUD SLOWLY DIMINISHING. THE STRONGER SURFACE PRESSURE AND
THERMAL GRADIENTS TODAY HAVE ACTED TO KICK UP THE WINDS A BIT THIS
AFTERNOON AS EXPECTED. TEMPERATURES REMAIN MILD AHEAD OF THE
FRONT...HOWEVER THIS WILL CHANGE BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE NEXT...STRONGER SHORT WAVE
CURRENTLY NEARING 130W. THIS WAVE WILL ACT TO PUSH THE COLD FRONT
SOUTH LATE TONIGHT AND STRENGTHEN IT AS WELL. VERY LITTLE MOISTURE
WITH THE FRONT AS INDICATED BY WV IMAGERY AND MODELS. MAIN AFFECT
FROM THE FRONT WILL BE THE WINDS AS THEY WILL BE A LITTLE STRONGER
TOMORROW. THE SURFACE AND THERMAL GRADIENTS WILL STRENGTHEN
FURTHER TOMORROW AND THERE MAY BE A WEAK INVERSION JUST ABOVE MTN
TOP LEVEL TOO. HOWEVER...WINDS INCREASE WITH HEIGHT AND THERE IS
NO TRUE CRITICAL LEVEL CONTAINING A SLACKENING OF THE WINDS ABOVE
THE INVERSION. ALSO...MODELS ARE IN MUCH BETTER AGREEMENT WITH
ONLY 40 KTS EXPECTED AT 700 MB. THEREFORE...WILL BE ISSUING A WIND
ADVISORY FOR AREAS CURRENTLY UNDER THE WATCH. THE TROP FOLD THAT
WAS APPARENT YESTERDAY IS ALSO NOT PROGGED TO BE AS STRONG AND
WILL BE FURTHER NORTH. ISSUED WIND ADVISORIES FOR ALL THE CWA...AS
AREAS NEAR THE OREGON BORDER WILL BE CLOSE TO THE STRONGEST WINDS
ALOFT. ACROSS THE BASIN AND RANGE...POST FRONTAL WEST TO NORTHWEST
WINDS ARE FAVORED THIS TIME OF YEAR AND THERE COULD BE SOME
BLOWING DUST ISSUES.
EXPECT THE WINDS TO DIMINISH TOMORROW EVENING AS THE FRONT PUSHES
SOUTH AND THE WINDS ALOFT WEAKEN. EXPECT A COOL NIGHT...BUT THE
WINDS SHOULD KEEP THINGS FROM DROPPING TOO MUCH BELOW NORMAL.
THURSDAY STILL LOOKS COOL AND BELOW GUIDANCE...BUT HAVE ADJUSTED
TEMPS UP BASED ON WARMER GUIDANCE THAN 24 HRS AGO. THU NIGHT MAY
NOT BE AS COOL AS ORIGINALLY THOUGHT AS MID AND HIGH CLOUDS FROM
THE NEXT SYSTEM SHOULD ARRIVE AROUND MIDNIGHT TO LIMIT RADIATIONAL
COOLING. WALLMANN
.LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
SHORT AND MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH REGARD TO
LARGE SCALE AND LOW AMPLITUDE TROUGH OVER NORTH AMERICA THROUGH
EARLY NEXT WEEK. SHORTWAVES ARE EXPECTED TO BE QUITE PROGRESSIVE
WITH FLOW SPLITTING TOWARD END OF PERIOD WHEN DETAILS BECOME
INCREASINGLY UNCERTAIN OVER THE WEST. SHORTWAVE WILL BE APPROACHING
THE PACNW AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD WITH INCREASING WINDS FRIDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOLLOWED BY SOME CHANCE OF SHOWERS FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. THE GFS CONTINUES TO BE THE DRIER SOLUTION AND
KEEPS MOST PRECIPITATION NORTH WHILE THE ECMWF HOLDS BACK MEAN
SHORTWAVE TROUGH IN SOUTHERN SPLIT EARLY NEXT WEEK AND PUSHES
SHOWER CHANCES FURTHER SOUTH AND MAINTAINS THEM INTO SUNDAY. THE GFS
AND ITS ENSEMBLES ALSO SHOW SPLIT BUT INDICATE LITTLE QPF BEYOND
SATURDAY IN THE DETERMINISTIC RUN. FOR NOW WILL MAINTAIN ONGOING
FORECAST WHICH KEEPS SOME MENTION OF SHOWERS THROUGH SUNDAY. THE
MAIN ISSUE WILL BE WINDS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS GUSTS WILL
LIKELY APPROACH ADVISORY LEVELS. FURTHER ANALYSIS WILL BE NEEDED TO
DETERMINE EXACT NATURE OF WINDS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A LITTLE BELOW
NORMAL FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND BUT BEGIN TO MODERATE EARLY NEXT WEEK
AS TROUGH FILLS AND HEIGHTS RISE A BIT. HOHMANN
&&
.AVIATION...
STRONG GUSTY WEST WINDS ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO MIX DOWN TO AREA TAF
SITES AND BE THE MAIN CONCERN THROUGH WEDNESDAY. RIDGE GUSTS WILL
EXCEED 70KT WHILE FREQUENT SURFACE WIND GUSTS WILL RANGE 30-35KT.
WINDS WILL TAPER A BIT AT THE TAF SITES TONIGHT BUT INCREASE AGAIN
WEDNESDAY AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTHEAST ACROSS AREA. GUSTS WILL
REACH 40-45KT FOR SEVERAL HOURS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS FRONT
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
HOHMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM TO 10 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR NVZ001>005.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR NVZ002.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR NVZ004.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM TO 10 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ070>073.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained weather spotter reported a 52 knot (60 mph) wind gust 5 miles WSW of Gardnerville.
A 58 knot (67 mph) wind gust was recorded by the Galena RAWS.
The DRI wind sensor near the Western Nevada Community College in Carson City recorded a 50 knot (58 mph) wind gust.
The NDOT sensor in Washoe Valley recorded a 63 knot (72 mph) wind gust.
A 52 knot (60 mph) wind gust was recorded at the NWS Forecast Office in north Reno.
The Nevada Appeal newspaper in Carson City reported that 50-mph wind gusts blew over two 40-foot-tall cottonwood trees in Carson City during the afternoon of March 26th. Only minor damage to the roof of a house was reported. The newspaper said that it was discovered that the bulk of the trees missed the structure.
An 82 knot (94 mph) wind gust was recorded by the wind sensor at the NWS WSR-88D radar site on Virginia Peak at an elevation of 8300 feet.
A 56 knot (65 mph) wind gust was recorded in southwest Reno.
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, March 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: 79991, 79992, 79993, 79994, 79995, 79998, 79996, 79997.