A cold front brought strong winds to western Nevada.
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The episode as NWS REV wrote it up.
A cold front brought strong winds to western 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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 26, 4:30 AM PST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
430 AM PST THU FEB 26 2009
.SHORT TERM...
LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER LOW JUST OFF THE WASHINGTON
COAST MOVING SE TOWARD KPDX. A JET MAX IN THE BASE OF THE TROUGH IS
PULLING THIS FEATURE TO THE SE. THE 00Z MEDIUM RANGE MODELS
INITIALIZED WELL WITH THE PLACEMENT OF THE UPPER LOW. THE NAM...GFS
...UKMET AND ECMWF ALL BRING THE UPPER LOW TO NRN IDAHO BY 00Z
FRIDAY.
A FLAT RIDGE IS CURRENTLY OVER MEXICO AND EXTENDS N INTO THE SWRN
CONUS. THE HEIGHT AND SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THIS RIDGE AND
THE UPPER LOW TO THE NORTH IS CAUSING STRONG WINDS ACROSS THE NRN
SIERRA AND NWRN NEVADA ATTM. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH ARE
BEING REPORTED ACROSS THE ERN SIERRA AND WRN NEVADA THIS MORNING
WITH WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH AND LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS. WIND SPEEDS
SHOULD INCREASE AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT
STRENGTHENS. THE NAM AND THE GFS SHOW 90AGL WINDS INCREASING
TO AROUND 50 KTS BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z OVER FAR NERN CALIFORNIA AND
NWRN NEVADA. THE LOCAL WRF MODEL ALSO SHOWS THESE STRONG WINDS
DURING THE DAY TODAY.
WIND ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF THE KREV CWFA FOR
TODAY. STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT WAVES ON LAKE TAHOE WITH
THE HIGHEST WAVES ALONG THE NORTH AND EAST SHORES. WINDS WILL NOT
BE AS STRONG OVER WCNTRL NEVADA BUT CONDITIONS WILL STILL BE ROUGH
ON PYRAMID LAKE.
SNOW IS STARTING TO SPILL INTO THE TAHOE BASIN ATTM. DO NOT EXPECT
HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATION ABOVE 6000 FEET TODAY SINCE THE UPPER LOW
SHOULD MOVE THROUGH SRN OREGON RATHER QUICKLY. A WEAK RIDGE IS THEN
PROGGED TO BUILD NORTH ALONG THE WEST COAST ON FRIDAY WHICH WILL
BRING DRY AND MILD CONDITIONS TO THE REGION. OHARA
.LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...
ACTIVE PATTERN TO CONTINUE THRU NEXT WEEK. FIRST ROUND OF
PRECIPITATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LOW OFF OF THE PACNW COAST
THAT PULLS IN A GOOD SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE TAP...MOVING INTO THE AREA
SATURDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY.
DYNAMICS WITH THIS SYSTEM LOOK TO BE VERY GOOD WITH A STRONG NE/SW
ORIENTED JET THAT PUSHES DIRECTLY INTO THE SIERRA AROUND THE TAHOE
BASIN THROUGH THE PERIOD. THIS WOULD ALSO MAKE SPILLOVER
PRECIPITATION TO THE LEE OF THE SIERRA FAVORABLE FOR THIS PERIOD AS
WELL. SNOW LEVELS START OUT AROUND 7000 FEET SATURDAY AND LOWER TO
LAKE LEVEL SUNDAY AND TO MOST VALLEY FLOORS ALONG AND NORTH OF
HIGHWAY 50 SUNDAY NIGHT. QPF INDICATES 1 TO 2 INCHES OF WATER
EQUIVALENT ALONG THE CREST WHICH WOULD PUT HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW
AMOUNTS IN THE 1-3 FOOT RANGE WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW FALLING SUNDAY
NIGHT. LAKE LEVEL COULD SEE UP TO A FOOT IN SOME AREAS IF THE
DYNAMICS COME IN AS CURRENTLY INDICATED.
PRECIPITATION TAPERS TO SCATTERED SHOWERS FOR MONDAY AND MONDAY
NIGHT BEFORE A SERIES OF SYSTEMS AFFECT THE AREA MIDWEEK. MEDIUM
RANGE MODELS DIFFER ON THE DETAILS DURING THIS PERIOD. IN
GENERAL...A TROUGH OR SERIES OF UPPER LOWS SETS UP NEAR THE WEST
COAST AROUND TUESDAY AND GRADUALLY PROGRESSES INLAND BY THE END OF
THE WEEK. THIS WOULD RESULT IN A PROGRESSIVELY COOLER AND MOIST
PATTERN AS WAVES OF ENERGY ROTATE ACROSS THE AREA...ALONG WITH THE
POTENTIAL FOR A DECENT PERIOD OF SIERRA SNOW AND SCATTERED LEE SIDE
PRECIPITATION. JAH
&&
.AVIATION...
KRNO...STRONG SURFACE GRADIENT TODAY AS A COLD FRONT IN EASTERN
OREGON AT 12Z SWEEPS SOUTHEAST ACROSS NORTHEAST CA AND BRUSHES
NORTHERN NV. WIND DIRECTION WILL VARY BETWEEN SWLY AND NWLY UNTIL
ABOUT 17Z WHEN THE DIRECTION STABILIZES TO WNW. THERE WILL ALSO BE
SOME LULLS IN SFC WIND SPEED WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME LLWS
THROUGH ABOUT 15Z. WIND SPEEDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH THE MORNING
HOURS WITH GUSTS TO 45KT 15Z-19Z. STRONG GUSTS UP TO 35KTS WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH 02Z BEFORE WINDS DIMINISH.
KTVL-KTRK...GUSTS MAINLY BTWN 25-35 KT EXCEPT FOR OCNL STRONGER
GUSTS 18Z-00Z. SNOW WILL REDUCE VSBYS BLO 2SM WITH LCL CIGS BLO010
THROUGH 15Z. BY 18Z EXPECT GENLY VFR CONDITIONS WITH SCATTERED SNOW
SHOWERS DIMINISHING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. JAH
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NVZ002-003-005.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NVZ004.
CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR CAZ070>073.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained weather spotter located 4 miles north of Cedarville reported a wind gust of 55 kts (63 mph).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2009
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: 153443.