A powerful Pacific storm system brought high winds to northern and central Nevada on March 30th. Winds gusts over 60 mph were common across the area with a few gusts over 70 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
A powerful Pacific storm system brought high winds to northern and central Nevada on March 30th. Winds gusts over 60 mph were common across the area with a few gusts over 70 mph. This resulted in some structural damage and a few trees blown down in Elko.
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 Mar 30, 3:32 AM PST, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 432 AM PDT TUE MAR 30 2010 .SYNOPSIS...THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN DURING THE ENSUING 24 HR PERIOD. PACIFIC JET WILL BARREL ITS WAY INTO THE GREAT BASIN YIELDING VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS. BLOWING DUST AND PARTICULATE MATTER WILL BE AN ISSUE AGAIN TODAY...UNTIL THE PRECIPITATION BEGINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH THIS STORM WILL BE THE DANGEROUS WINDS IT PRODUCES. A SECOND SYSTEM IS LOOMING ON THE HORIZON FOR LATER THIS WEEK...AND IT WILL FORM OVER THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST...POSSIBLY BRINGING A SHOT OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION TO CENTRAL NEVADA. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY. FORMIDABLE DYNAMICS ARE MOVING IN OFF THE PACIFIC...MOST NOTABLY THE 170KT JET CORE. EXPECT TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE LKN CWA...WITH A CHANGE FROM ELY TO THE BLACK ROCK DESERT OF MORE THAN 20 DAM AT 500MB. ADDITIONALLY...THE GFS IS PROGGING 3 STANDARD DEVIATIONS ABOVE FOR 700MB U WIND OVER MUCH OF THE CWA...AND THE SREF IS PROJECTING GREATER THAN 4 STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR TUESDAY. UPGRADED THE WIND ADVISORY TO A HIGH WIND WARNING OVER HUMBOLDT...LANDER...EUREKA...WHITE PINE AND ELKO COUNTIES...FROM 15Z TO 02Z...KEPT NORTHERN NYE IN A WIND ADVISORY. REDUCED VSBY FROM BLOWING DUST IS EXPECTED TO BE CONCURRENT WITH THIS EVENT. THE PRECIPITATION SHIELD WILL PREDOMINATELY BE RAIN SHOWERS WITH SNOW SHOWERS IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS ABOVE 7500 FEET. AS THE JET PUSHES INLAND...HEIGHTS ALOFT WILL DECREASE...BRINGING COLD AIR INTO THE REGION...PUSHING THE SNOW LEVEL DOWN. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. NORTHWEST FLOW FOR THURSDAY NIGHT TRANSITIONS QUICKLY TO WEST TO EAST FLOW BY FRIDAY NIGHT AS SHORT WAVE RIDGING MOVES AWAY FROM THE SILVER STATE. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MAINLY IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. ANOTHER SYSTEM POSSIBLE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK AS IT DIVES SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE AT OR BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...VERY STRONG WINDS WILL BE THE RULE TODAY ACROSS ALL TAF SITES...SW30-40G50KT...WITH KTPH SEEING SW25-35G45KT. WITH STRONG WINDS...BLDU WILL RESULT IN MVFR CONDITIONS OVER KWMC...KEKO AND KTPH. BLDU POSSIBLE OVER KELY BUT CHANCES NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO PUT IN TAF. ISOLD TS POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN TAF SITES...BUT THREAT REMAINS AROUND 10 PERCENT. COLD FRONT TO PUSH EAST THROUGH THE AREA TODAY...RESULTING IN -SHRA MORNING...-SHRASN LATER IN THE AFTERNOON AS COLDER AIR WORKS IN BEHIND FRONT. AGAIN...MVFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED WITH LCL IFR CONDITIONS IN THE HEAVIEST SHOWERS. WINDS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH AFTER 30/02Z THIS EVENING. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY...HUMBOLDT COUNTY... NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...RUBY MOUNTAINS/EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE...SOUTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY...WHITE PINE COUNTY. WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR NORTHERN NYE COUNTY. && 97/86/86
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 351 AM PDT TUE MAR 30 2010 NVZ013-030>037-311100- 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- 351 AM PDT TUE MAR 30 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTH CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTHEAST NEVADA...NORTHWEST NEVADA AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A VIGOROUS PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MARCH INLAND YIELDING STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ACROSS THE SILVER STATE. THE JET STREAM WILL TRACK DIRECTLY ACROSS NORTHERN/CENTRAL NEVADA TODAY UNLEASHING DANGEROUS WINDS. EXPECT SUSTAINED AT 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH. BLOWING DUST MAY GREATLY REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO A HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SNOWS FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED PACIFIC STORM WILL LINGER INTO THURSDAY BEFORE THE RIDGE MOVES INLAND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT WEATHER PHENOMENA ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust of 60 mph was reported at Golconda Summit by the Nevada Department of Transportation Mesonet site.
A gust to 72 mph was reported on Austin Summit and 63 mph at Bean Flat Monitor.
A gust to 71 mph was reported at the Ruby Valley RAWS.
A gust of 65 mph was reported at the Long Hollow RAWS site, 59 mph at Stag Mountain RAWS, and 57 mph at Antelope Lake RAWS.
A gust of 67 mph was reported on Emigrant Pass. A semi-truck caught fire on Interstate 80 near Beowawe due to winds blowing tumbleweeds under the cab of the truck and then being ignited by the hot exhaust system. The entire cab was destroyed but only a small portion of the trailer.
A wind gust to 67 mph was reported at both the Elko ASOS and the Weather Forecast Office, 66 mph at the Wells/Moor Grade NDOT Mesonet site, and 61 mph at the Halleck Junction NDOT Mesonet site. A couple of large trees were blown down in Elko along with many tree limbs. A couple of fences were also blown down. Several reports were received of some shingles being blown off of roofs and one house had some siding blown off. Four momentary power outages affected about half of Elko due to the high winds causing power lines to come together. At about 11:48 am two power lines coming together caused sparks that fell to the ground and ignited a brush fire that burned about half an acre off of east Idaho Street.
A gust of 68 mph was reported at the Pancake Summit RAWS site. The Ely Airport ASOS reported a wind gust to 59 mph. Reports of sporadic power outages were reported due to the winds.
A gust to 65 mph was reported at Currant Summit and 60 mph at Current Creek. Some power outages were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, March 2010
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: 213883, 213912, 213904, 213885, 213911, 213901, 213907, 213921.