Freezing rain caused numerous traffic accidents throughout Elko county.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Freezing rain caused numerous traffic accidents throughout Elko county.
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 22, 4:43 AM PST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 443 AM PST THU JAN 22 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL BRING UNSETTLED WEATHER TO THE REGION THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH SATURDAY...TURNING SLIGHTLY COLDER SATURDAY NIGHT...SUNDAY...AND INTO NEXT WEEK. SMALL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH VALLEY AND MOUNTAIN ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. COMPLEX PATTERN OVER THE NEXT THREE DAYS. PRIMARY SUPPORT FOR PRECIPITATION IS UPPER DIVERGENCE FROM 100KT JET. ISENTROPIC LIFT IS NOT EVIDENT. WENT WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS INSTEAD OF 700MB TEMPS FOR PRECIP TYPE. WARM AIR ALOFT THIS MORNING COULD GIVE US SPOTTY FREEZING RAIN NE THIRD OF FCST AREA. AFTER THAT TEMPS ALOFT BEGIN TO COOL. PRECIP TYPE THROUGH THE SHORT TERM WILL BE PRIMARILY RAIN IN VALLEYS IN THE DAYTIME...AND A RAIN/SNOW MIX AT NIGHT. THE MOUNTAINS WILL SEE A RAIN/SNOW MIX IN THE DAYTIME...AND SNOW AT NIGHT. HOWEVER... RUN-TOTAL QPF THROUGH THE NEXT 3 DAYS IS UP TO AN INCH NORTH AND A HALF INCH SOUTH...DUE IN PART TO HEALTHY PWS OF 0.50 TO 0.60 INCHES THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. PWS DIMINISH TO 0.30 TO 0.40 INCHES SATURDAY. BEST CHANCE FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW WILL BE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN HUMBOLDT AND NORTHERN ELKO COUNTIES. HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE RUBIES WILL ALSO SEE A FEW INCHES. BEST SHOT OF SNOW COULD BE FRIDAY...WITH WEAK CAA BRUSHING THE NORTH. REA .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A LONG-WAVE TROUGH WILL BE SITTING OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES THROUGH THE LONG TERM...SO THE PERIOD WILL BE RATHER UNSETTLED. AT THE START...SATURDAY NIGHT...A SHORT-WAVE TROUGH WILL EXTEND SOUTHWESTWARD FROM NEAR SAN FRANCISCO INTO THE PACIFIC. A STRONGER PIECE OF ENERGY WILL BE DIVING SOUTHWARD ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST FROM WESTERN CANADA...AND THESE TWO FEATURES COMBINING WILL RESULT IN A CLOSED-LOW FORMING OVER CALIFORNIA BY EARLY MONDAY. SOME ENERGY AND PACIFIC MOISTURE WILL ESCAPE THE CLOSED LOW...EJECTING EASTWARD SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...AND THIS WILL KEEP SCATTERED SHOWERS GOING ACROSS THE REGION. THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE NOW SWAPPED PLACES COMPARED TO LAST NIGHT...WITH THE GFS NOW EJECTING THE CLOSED LOW FASTER THAN THE ECMWF. HOWEVER...WHILE THE ECMWF DOES LINGER THE SYSTEM...IT SENDS IT FAR ENOUGH SOUTH SO THAT BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK THE WEATHER SHOULD START TO DRY OUT AROUND HERE. STEADIEST PRECIPITATION WITH THE CLOSED LOW IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE SOUTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA...MAINLY SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. HAVE BUMPED UP POPS FOR MUCH OF THE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY PERIOD...WHILE LOWERING THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. RCM && .AVIATION...STORM SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE REGION WILL PROVIDE MAINLY RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. THERE COULD BE A FEW SLEET PELLETS OR A VERY BRIEF PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN AT KEKO EARLY THIS MORNING AS THE PRECIPITATION STARTS...BUT TEMPERATURES SHOULD RAPIDLY RISE ABOVE FREEZING ONCE IT DOES START. SHOWERS WILL BE MOST CONCENTRATED AT KWMC AND KEKO DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS TODAY...WITH SHOWERS BECOMING MORE NUMEROUS AROUND KELY AND KTPH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. CIGS AND VISIBILITY CAN DROP INTO MVFR RANGE TODAY AT KWMC AND KEKO...AND DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING AT KTPH AND KELY. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT. RCM && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 90/93/93
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 537 AM PST WED JAN 21 2009 NVZ013-030>037-221345- NORTHERN NYE COUNTY-HUMBOLDT COUNTY-NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY- SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY- EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY-RUBY MOUNTAINS/EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE- WHITE PINE COUNTY- NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY- SOUTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTY- 537 AM PST WED JAN 21 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NEVADA...NORTH CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTHEAST NEVADA...NORTHWEST NEVADA AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...WITH AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW POSSIBLE THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN ELKO AND HUMBOLDT COUNTIES. COLDER AIR WILL PUSH INTO THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY...BRINGING THE CHANCE OF MORE WIDESPREAD SNOW...WITH AN INCH OR TWO ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE IN VALLEYS...AND A FEW INCHES POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE PATH AND STRENGTH OF THIS STORM IS STILL HIGHLY UNCERTAIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT SNOW FALL TOTALS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. REA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported numerous traffic accidents due to ice covered roads from light freezing rain. One of the accidents near mile marker 338 (west of Wells) resulted in 2 fatalities from an overturned vehicle.
Law enforcement reported several traffic accidents due to ice covered roads from light freezing rain.
Law enforcement reported several traffic accidents due to ice covered roads from light freezing rain.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather, Sw & Sc Elko | 2009-01-22 | 76 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
| Winter Weather, Sw & Sc Elko | 2009-01-22 | 80 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, January 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: 142568, 142565, 142570.