A strong winter storm system brought widespread heavy snow to northern and central Nevada. Amounts generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches in the valleys and 7 to 14 inches in the mountains.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 strong winter storm system brought widespread heavy snow to northern and central Nevada. Amounts generally ranged from 4 to 8 inches in the valleys and 7 to 14 inches in the mountains.
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 Feb 24, 4:01 PM PST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 401 PM PST THU FEB 24 2011 .SYNOPSIS...A MAJOR WINTER WEATHER STORM WILL IMPACT NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH THE LIONS SHARE OF THE SNOW EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MORNING. GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY SNOW...AND COLD TEMPERATURES WILL ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT. MULTIPLE HEADLINES ISSUED. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. STRONG DYNAMICS AND DEEP MOISTURE WILL PRODUCE WINTRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE SILVER STATE. EVEN THOUGH THE SIERRA WILL GET THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE...LEESIDE CYCLOGENESIS AND UPSLOPE ENHANCEMENT WILL PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLES WITH THIS IMPENDING EVENT. PROGGED 700MB TEMPS ON BOTH THE GFS AND NAM SUGGEST THAT A FORMIDABLE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE WILL SET UP OVER MOST OF THE LKN CWA. WHILE THE 500 MB LOW TRACKS SOUTH OF THE CWA...THE 700 MB LOW CLOSES OFF ON FRIDAY AND MOVES DIRECTLY OVERHEAD...BISECTING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA... EXPECT MULTIPLE SNOW BANDS TO DEVELOP. STRONG FRONTOGENESIS AND WIDESPREAD QPF SHIELD PROJECTED IN THE LATEST RUNS OF THE NAM AND GFS. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY. MODELS HAVE BECOME REMARKABLY CONSISTENT AND IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT. NAM DOES HAVE SOME DIFFICULT TO EVALUATE RH AND UVV FEATURES IN THE NEAR SIDE OF THIS PERIOD...AROUND THE END OF THE WEEKEND. WENT WITH A MIX OF THE GFS AND ECMWF. LARGE SCALE FEATURE IS THE CLOSED UPPER NOW DIGGING SOUTH ALONG THE COAST WHICH BOTH MODELS INDICATE WILL CONTINUE SOUTH TO ABOUT THE LATITUDE OF LAS VEGAS AND THEN MAKE A SHARP EASTWARD TURN...OPEN UP TO A WAVE...AND SHOOT EAST SUNDAY. THIS WILL LEAVE BEHIND ANOTHER DEEP LOW OFF THE ALASKA PANHANDLE AND A FLATTISH RIDGE BELOW IT CENTERED OVER THE SOUTHERN TIP OF BAJA CALIFORNIA. IN BETWEEN FLAT ZONAL WEAKLY ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WILL HOVER OVER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA. A FAIRLY DISORIENTED OR DISORGANIZED SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE IN PLACE OVER THE REGION. A WEAK PACIFIC SURFACE HIGH WILL DRIFT EAST OVER THE COAST KEEPING WINDS ON THE LIGHT-ISH SIDE AND FROM A GENERALLY SOUTHERN DIRECTION. THUS...A WARMING TREND IS IN STORE BY EARLY IN THE WEEK AFTER THIS COLD FRONT LEAVES THE AREA. BB && .AVIATION...BIG ISSUE IS CURRENTLY WIND AT WMC AND EKO. HAVE ADDED GUSTS TO BOTH SITES...AND LATER AND LOWER SPEEDS AT ELY AND TPH. OTHER ISSUE IS TIMING OF SNOWS AT ALL SITES. BEGAN VCSH/-SN AT WMC AND EKO AND PROGRESSED TO -SN OVERNIGHT WITH MVFR VSBY/CIGS. SAME STORY AT ELY BUT LATER TIMING. FOR TPH...EXPECT CONDITIONS TO WORSEN BUT NOT UNTIL MORNING AND THROUGH DAY FRIDAY. THERE MAY BE PERIODS OF SN AND VSBY DOWN TO 1/2 MILE FRIDAY. WINDS AT TPH WILL BE LARGELY VARIABLE IN DIRECTION AT TPH AS WELL AS IT SITS UNDER THE DEVELOPING COLD FRONT. FRONT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE AREA BY FRIDAY. BB && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST FRIDAY FOR NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...RUBY MOUNTAINS/EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE... SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM PST FRIDAY FOR HUMBOLDT COUNTY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 4 AM PST SATURDAY BELOW 6000 FEET FOR EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 4 AM PST SATURDAY ABOVE 6000 FEET FOR EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 PM FRIDAY TO 10 PM PST SATURDAY BELOW 6500 FEET FOR NORTHERN NYE COUNTY...WHITE PINE COUNTY. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 PM FRIDAY TO 10 PM PST SATURDAY ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR NORTHERN NYE COUNTY...WHITE PINE COUNTY. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 4 AM PST SATURDAY FOR RUBY MOUNTAINS/EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 10 AM PST SATURDAY BELOW 6500 FEET FOR SOUTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTY. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 10 AM PST SATURDAY ABOVE 6500 FEET FOR SOUTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTY. && 97/98/98
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 238 PM PST THU FEB 24 2011 NVZ030-031-252245- HUMBOLDT COUNTY-NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY- 238 PM PST THU FEB 24 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEVADA AND NORTHWEST NEVADA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A PACIFIC STORM IS CLOSING IN ON THE GREAT BASIN. A BATCH OF WINTRY WEATHER IS HEADED INTO NORTHERN NEVADA WITH SNOW...COLD TEMPERATURES AND GUSTY WINDS EXPECTED. LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN AND WILL CONTINUE INTO THE NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE STORM WILL CLEAR THE AREA BY SATURDAY. FOR STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS...3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED TO BLANKET HUMBOLDT COUNTY...WITH 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW FOR NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY. IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...DAILY LOW TEMPERATURES WILL EASILY DIP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS...AND SOME BASINS WILL SEE TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO. DRY BUT CHILLY CONDITIONS ARE PROJECTED FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT WEATHER PHENOMENA ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. NVZ013-032>037-252245- NORTHERN NYE 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- 238 PM PST THU FEB 24 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTH CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTHEAST NEVADA AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A MAJOR AND COMPLEX WINTER WEATHER STORM IS HEADED TOWARDS THE REGION...MERITING THE ISSUANCE OF A SUITE OF HEADLINE PRODUCTS INCLUDING BOTH WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS. THE BRUNT OF THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ELEVATION WILL BE CRITICAL. THE RUBY MOUNTAINS AND EAST HUMBOLDT RANGE ARE EXPECTED TO RECEIVE 15 TO 20 INCHES OF NEW SNOW. FOR SOUTHERN ELKO COUNTY AND NORTHERN LANDER AND EUREKA COUNTIES...ELEVATIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET CAN EXPECT 8 TO 16 INCHES OF FRESH SNOW...WHILE ELEVATIONS BELOW 6000 FEET CAN EXPECT ONLY 4 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW. MEANWHILE...SOUTHERN LANDER AND EUREKA WILL RECEIVE 8 TO 16 ABOVE 6500 FEET AND ONLY 4 TO 7 INCHES BELOW 6500 FEET. NORTHERN NYE AND WHITE PINE COUNTIES CAN ANTICIPATE 8 TO 16 INCHES OVER 6500 FEET ...WHILE ONLY 4 TO 8 INCHES IS FORECAST BELOW 6500 FEET. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT WEATHER PHENOMENA ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. SZATANEK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall amounts ranged from 6 to 14 inches.
Snowfall ranged from 4 to 7 inches in the valleys and 10 to 14 inches in the mountains.
Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 6 to 12 inches in the valleys and 8 to 16 inches in the mountains.
Nearly 16 inches of snow was reported by an observer in Eureka and 6 inches of snow was reported in Austin.
Data from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center indicated 4 to 8 inches of snow fell across the southeastern third of the county.
Snowfall totals ranged from 6 to 10 inches in the valleys and 10 to 20 inches in the mountains.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, February 2011
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: 275422, 275419, 275420, 275424, 275423, 275425.