Strong winds preceded a cold front as it approached the northern Sierra and western Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 REV wrote it up.
Strong winds preceded a cold front as it approached the northern Sierra and 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 Mar 1, 3:33 AM PST, 9 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
333 AM PST SUN MAR 1 2009
.SHORT TERM...
DIFFICULT FORECAST WITH MANY THINGS GOING ON ATTM. INITIAL FOCUS
IS ON WINDS FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY THEN SNOWFALL
POTENTIAL FOR MONDAY ACROSS TAHOE NORTH THROUGH LASSEN COUNTY.
NAM/EC IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE GFS A BIT OF AN OUTLIER WITH
MORE W COMPONENT TO LLVL FLOW. FORECAST LEANS HARDEST ON THE EC
FOR THE NEXT 36 HRS USING SOME DETAILS FROM THE NAM WHEN
APPROPRIATE.
WIND SHOULD INCREASE ACROSS ALL AREAS DURING THE DAY AND BE
BREEZY...ESPECIALLY NEAR AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 395 TODAY. H7 WINDS
GRADUALLY INCREASE TO 50 KTS...AND WHILE THERE IS A LLVL INVERSION
NEAR MTN TOP...THE ATMOSPHERE IS AWFULLY STABLE ABOVE IT THROUGH
00-02Z. THIS SHOULD HAMPER THE DEVLOPMENT OF A STANDING OR LARGE
AMPLITUDE LEE WAVES THROUGH THIS TIME. ALSO...DEEP ISENTROPIC LIFT
UPSTREAM ALSO NOT THE MOST FAVORABLE.
AFTER 02Z...MID-LEVEL STABILITY CHANGES TO A MORE MOIST-NEUTRAL
ENVIROMENT WITH SHALLOWING MOISTURE FROM SUSANVILLE-GERLACH SOUTH.
MODELS HINTING AT STANDING WAVE DEVELOPMENT ATTM...AND THE ONLY
THING THAT IS NOT THE MOST FAVORABLE IS THE SSW WIND DIRECTION.
IT IS MARGINAL...BUT HAVE A GUT FEELING THAT WE WILL SEE HIGH
WINDS DESPITE OF THIS...BUT POSSIBLY A BIT MORE LOCALIZED THAN
MOST HIGH WIND EVENTS. FOCUS WILL BE ON THE 395 CORRIDOR FROM LEE
VINING TO RENO AND WILL ISSUE HIGH WIND WARNING. SURROUNDING THIS
AREA...FOR TAHOE/LASSEN AND PERSHING SOUTH TO MINERAL
COUNTIES...WILL ISSUE AN ADVISORY. HIGH WINDS A BIT MORE LOCALIZED
THERE...BUT STILL WIDESPREAD ADVISORY CRITERIA EXPECTED.
THIS THERMODYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT APPEARS TO LAST UNTIL 06-09Z WITH
THE LLVL INVERSION EXPECTED TO WEAKEN. EXPECT A LULL IN THE
WINDS...OR THE HIGH WINDS BECOMING VERY LOCALIZED...BEFORE THE
THERMODYNAMIC PROFILE TURNS MORE FAVORABLE AGAIN AROUND 14-18Z MON FOR
RENO AND 18-00Z FOR MONO COUNTY. THIS ALSO COINCIDE WITH THE
PERIOD OF THE JET MOVING IN ALOFT AND 2-6 HRS AHEAD OF THE SFC
COLD FRONT. THIS LATTER PART IS TYPICALLY WHEN THE STRONGEST WINDS
ARE SEEN. STILL...THE THERMODYNAMIC PROFILE FOR MON IS NOT AS
FAVORABLE AS THIS EVENING...SO IT MAY JUST BE SOLID WIDSPREAD
ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS ATTM. EITHER WAY...IT WILL BE WINDY.
AS FAR AS PRECIP...SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN QUITE HIGH
WITH THE SSW FLOW AND SOME SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE ENTRAINED AHEAD OF
THE LOW OFF THE COAST. EXPECTING SNOW LEVELS TO AVERAGE 7500 FEET
NORTH TO 8500 FEET SOUTH THROUGH 12Z MON. THEN...SNOW LEVELS
SHOULD COME CRASHING DOWN MONDAY TO 4500-5000 FEET NORTH TO 6500
FEET SOUTH BY AFTERNOON.
INITIAL BAND OF MOISTURE NOW INTO THE LASSEN PEAK AREA AND PARTS
OF PLUMAS CTY. THIS BAND DRIVEN BY WEAK TO MODERATE ISENTROPIC
LIFT IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY PUSH SOUTH TODAY WITH LIMITED AMOUNTS
OF SPILLOVER...AT LEAST INTO THE LOWER DESERTS. AFTER THIS BAND
MOVES THROUGH BY 06Z...EXPECT MAINLY OROGRAPHICALLY INDUCED PRECIP
THRU 12Z. BEST CHANCES OF LOWER DESERTS SEEING PRECIP WILL BE
NORTH OF A SUSANVILLE TO GERLACH LINE WHICH WILL BE CLOSEST TO THE
EXIT REGION OF THE JET.
BY MON...FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT WILL INCREASE AND
SLOWLY MOVE SOUTH. JET STREAM WILL ALSO SAG SOUTHEAST WITH
SPILLOVER MORE LIKELY ALONG THE FRONT. IT SHOULD MAKE IT INTO
TAHOE/RENO BY 00Z TUE. QPF AMOUNTS ARE IMPRESSIVE ALONG THE FRONT
FOR TAHOE-LASSEN...BUT HOW QUICKLY THE SNOW LEVELS DROP IS IN
QUESTION. RIGHT NOW...CURRENT TIMING OF ACCUMULATING SNOW FOR
POPULATED AREAS OF THOSE ZONES IS LATE MORNING INTO AFTERNOON.
GIVEN THIS...THINK IT WILL BE MORE AN ADVISORY LEVEL EVENT. AS
SUCH...WILL NOT ISSUE WINTER STORM WATCH. HOWEVER...WILL MENTION
IN SPS WHICH WILL BE ISSUED FOR NEXT WAVE TUE-WED. WALLMANN
MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...
SNOW WILL CONTINUE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. THE MEDIUM RANGE
MODELS...NAM...GFS...UKMET AND ECMWF ALL SHOW THE UPPER LOW JUST OFF
THE PACIFIC NW COAST MON NIGHT. HOWEVER COLDER AIR SHOULD ALREADY
BE FILTERING INTO THE REGION. THE GFS HAS 700 MB TEMPERATURES
DROPPING TO -8C OVER THE TAHOE BASIN BY 12Z TUESDAY. THIS WOULD
TRANSLATE TO SNOW LEVELS OF AROUND 5000 FT. IN ADDITION...AN AREA
OF DIFFLUENCE SHOULD BE OVER THE NRN AND CNTRL SIERRA BY 12Z TUESDAY
AND THE UPPER JET SHOULD ALSO BE MOVING OVER THE SAME AREA. THE
DYNAMICS AND UVV ASSOCIATED WITH THE JET AND DIFFLUENCE SHOULD HELP
TO INCREASE SNOWFALL RATES MONDAY NIGHT.
ON TUESDAY THE UPPER JET SHOULD STILL BE OVER THE CNTRL SIERRA.
SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENTRAINED INTO THE
CIRCULATION AROUND THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE. THIS MOISTURE...
COMBINED WITH THE OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS...SHOULD RESULT IN SNOWFALL
CONTINUING OVER THE SIERRA. SOME SPILLOVER PRECIPITATION SHOULD
CONTINUE ON TUESDAY AS THE WSWLY UPPER FLOW WILL BE PERPENDICULAR TO
THE SIERRA. TEMPERATURES AT 700 MB SHOULD CONTINUE TO COOL ON
TUESDAY AND SHOULD RANGE FROM READINGS OF AROUND -10C OVER THE NRN
SIERRA TO AROUND -6C OVER MONO COUNTY.
THE UPPER LOW IS PROGGED TO MOVE ONLY SLIGHTLY TO THE SOUTH TUESDAY
NIGHT. AS A RESULT MOISTURE AND OROGRAPHICS WILL CONTINUE TO
PRODUCE SNOWFALL IN THE SIERRA AND INTO WRN NEVADA. TEMPERATURES
ALOFT WILL COOL EVEN MORE WITH 700 MB TEMPERATURES OF -10C EXTENDING
AS FAR SOUTH AS MONO COUNTY AND INTO WRN NEVADA. THIS COLDER AIR
MASS WILL BRING SNOW LEVELS TO THE VALLEY FLOORS OF WRN NEVADA BY
12Z WEDNESDAY. OHARA
.LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
ONLY MINOR CHANGES MADE TO THE GOING FORECAST AS THE GFS REMAINS
CONSISTENT IN ITS TRENDS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF TIMING ISSUES WHILE
THE 00Z RUN OF THE ECMWF HAS GONE OFF ON ITS OWN. GOING WITH THE FAIRLY
CONSISTENT GFS AS IT HAS SUPPORT OF ITS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS AND THE
CANADIAN AS WELL AS THE CURRENT TELECONNECTIONS SUPPORT IN THE
PACIFIC.
UPPER LOW IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE DROPPING SOUTH OUT OF THE PACIFIC
NW TO OFF THE CENTRAL CA COAST BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. PRECIP WILL
BE ON-GOING WEDNESDAY MORNING AS WAVE ROTATING AROUND THE MAIN LOW
MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN CA INTO WESTERN NV. HEAVIEST PRECIP WILL BE
LOCATED OVER THE SIERRA CREST NEAR LAKE TAHOE EARLY IN THE DAY AND
SPREAD SOUTHWARD INTO MONO COUNTY BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AS A
SECONDARY WAVE MOVES INTO CENTRAL CA AND JET SUPPORT SAGS SOUTH
ACROSS THE AREA. EXPECT PRECIP TO SPREAD SOUTHWARD ACROSS WESTERN NV
THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS A LOW TO MID LEVEL FRONT MOVES SOUTH ACROSS
THE AREA. GFS IS HINTING AT QPF VALUES OF 0.25 TO 0.40 INCHES SOUTH
OF HIGHWAY 50 BY LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ALONG THE FRONT. SNOW
LEVELS WILL BE TO ALL VALLEY FLOORS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERAL
INCHES OF SNOWFALL ACCUMULATION IN WESTERN NV FROM I-80
SOUTH...WHILE LOCATIONS IN THE SIERRA WILL LIKELY SEE AT LEAST A
COUPLE FEET OF SNOW FROM LAKE TAHOE...SOUTH INTO MONO COUNTY.
MAIN DIFFERENCE IN THE GFS AS COMPARED TO EARLIER RUNS IS IT SLOWS
DOWN THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEXT SYSTEM. EXPECT TO SEE IMPROVING
CONDITIONS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO DROP SOUTH
OFF THE CA COAST ALLOWING PRECIP TO DECREASE IN COVERAGE FROM NORTH
TO SOUTH AND EVENTUALLY CLEARING THE AREA BY THURSDAY MORNING. GFS
HAS SLOWED DOWN ABOUT 12 HOURS FROM LAST NIGHT WITH THE ONSET OF THE
NEXT SYSTEM. POPS WILL MOST LIKELY NEED TO BE LOWERED SIGNIFICANTLY
ON THURSDAY IF THIS TIMING TREND CONTINUES...FOR NOW LEFT THURSDAY
AS WAS. UPPER LOW IS NOW FORECAST TO DROP OUT OF THE GULF OF ALASKA
AND ALONG THE PACIFIC NW COAST THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. CURRENT
TRACK TAKES THE LOW DOWN THE COAST AND INTO NW NV BY SATURDAY
MORNING. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THIS TRACK IS ON THE EASTERN EDGE
OF THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS WITH THEIR CONSENSUS JUST OFFSHORE TO NEAR
SFO BY SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM ALSO HAS A GOOD TAP OF
MOISTURE WITH PWAT VALUES NEAR AN INCH WRAPPING AROUND IT INTO
CENTRAL CA. THIS SYSTEM IS COLD AS WELL...SNOW LEVELS WILL BE TO
ALL VALLEY FLOORS AT THE ONSET OF THE EVENT...AND HIGH SNOW RATIOS
WILL BE FAVORED IN THE SIERRA. CURRENT GFS DEVELOPS PRECIP OVER THE
NORTHERN SIERRA BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING AND QUICKLY SPREADS IT
SOUTHWARD ALONG THE CREST THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THE GFS PUTS A QPF
BULLSEYE NEAR TAHOE WITH 12 HOUR TOTALS FRIDAY OVER AN INCH. PRECIP
IS ALSO EXPECTED INTO WESTERN NV ALONG A FRONT AS IT DROPS SOUTH
ACROSS THE AREA. RIGHT NOW LOCATIONS SOUTH OF I-80 ARE MOST LIKELY
TO SEE A FEW MORE INCHES OF ACCUMULATING SNOW WHILE HIGH SIERRA
LOCATIONS COULD SEE A COUPLE MORE FEET OF SNOW. TRACK OF THE STORM
REMAINS UNCERTAIN AND WILL HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON HOW MUCH SNOW THE
AREA ACTUALLY RECEIVES. IF THE TRACK OF THE LOW FOLLOWS THE
OPERATIONAL GFS...SNOWFALL TOTALS WILL BE LESS THAN IF THE LOW
FOLLOWS THE ENSEMBLE MEAN TRACK...SOMETHING TO BE WATCHED WITH
FUTURE MODEL RUNS. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE ECMWF...WHICH
HAD BEEN PRETTY CONSISTENT AND TRACKING SIMILAR TO THE GFS...NOW
CUTS A LOW WELL OFFSHORE AND WOULD KEEP THE AREA MOSTLY DRY THROUGH
THE END OF THE WEEK. THERE IS VERY LITTLE SUPPORT FOR THIS SOLUTION
AT THIS TIME.
UPPER LOW WILL DROP INTO SOUTHERN NV BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WE
SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA ON SATURDAY AS
THE COLD CORE OF THE SYSTEM MOVES SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA AND FLOW
TURNS MORE NORTHEASTERLY WITH POSSIBLE UPSLOPE SNOWFALL ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN ZONES. SNOWFALL WILL FINALLY TAPERING OFF SATURDAY NIGHT.
MOZLEY
&&
.AVIATION...
RAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON...SOME LCL
MVFR CIGS/VIS FROM 21Z-06Z FOR KTVL/KTRK POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...MAIN
CONCERN NEXT 24 HRS WILL BE WINDS. SOME MTN WAVE DEVELOPMENT
EXPECTED WITH GUSTY WINDS AT KTVL/KTRK/KRNO FROM 21Z INTO MONDAY
AROUND 18Z. STRONGEST WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 45 KT EXPECTED THIS
EVENING WITH SOME LLWS LIKELY AROUND 2 KFT DURING THIS TIME. WIND
SHOULD BACK OFF A BIT AFT 08Z MON...BUT MAY INCREASE AGAIN MON
AFTERNOON.
FOR KLOL...NOT EXPECTING ANY RESTRICTION TO CIGS/VIS ATTM.
ALSO...WINDS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS STRONG THRU 15Z MON. STRONGEST
WINDS HERE WILL BE MON AFT 18Z WITH GUSTS TO 40 KTS LIKELY AND
POSSIBLE BLOWING DUST. WALLMANN
&&
.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM PST MONDAY FOR
NVZ002.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON FOR NVZ002.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM THIS EVENING
FOR NVZ004.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST MONDAY FOR
NVZ001-004.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM PST MONDAY
FOR NVZ003.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 AM PST MONDAY FOR
CAZ071-072.
HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 PM PST MONDAY
FOR CAZ073.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST THISAFTERNOON FOR CAZ072.
&&
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained weather spotter located 5 miles WSW of Garderville reported a wind gust of 54 kt (62 mph).
A 56 kt (64 mph) wind gust was recorded at the Brawley Peaks RAWS.
A 56 kt (64 mph) wind gust was recorded at the Dead Camel RAWS. In the area around Fallon a fence was reported knocked down by the wind, small to medium sized branches were knocked off trees, and power outages were reported.
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, March 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: 160201, 160196, 160195.