Strong Wind in Nevada, May 15, 2011

Name: Strong Wind in Nevada, May 15, 2011
Start: 2011-05-15T06:30
End: 2011-05-15T09:30
Location: Nevada

May 15, 2011 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A large, cold, and slow moving system over the West brought gusty winds to western Nevada on the 15th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS REV wrote it up.

A large, cold, and slow moving system over the West brought gusty winds to western Nevada on the 15th.

What forecasters said that day

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 May 15, 2:55 AM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 2:55 AM PST, 3 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
355 AM PDT SUN MAY 15 2011

.SHORT TERM...
LARGE AND ANOMALOUSLY COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS MOVING INLAND THIS
MORNING...BRINGING MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND LATE SEASON SNOW TO
THE SIERRA. AS OF 3 AM...RADAR SHOWS THE MAIN BAND OF PRECIPITATION
MOVING INTO THE SIERRA AND FAR WRN NV. WEB CAMS ALREADY SHOWING A
COUPLE INCHES OF SNOW ON THE WEST SHORE...SO INCREASED AMOUNTS IN
THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO 2-4 INCHES LAKE LEVEL...LOCALLY UP TO
8 INCHES ON THE CREST. ALSO ADDED MONO COUNTY TO THE WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY AS THE LATEST OBSERVATIONS AND WEB CAM IMAGES INDICATE THAT
SNOW IS QUICKLY ACCUMULATING THERE AS WELL. SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO
ACCUMULATE ON ROADWAYS THROUGH MID MORNING...HOWEVER EXPECT SNOW TO
HAVE TROUBLE STICKING TO PAVED SURFACE THEREAFTER DUE TO STRONG
INSOLATION THIS TIME OF YEAR. SNOW SHOWERS ARE LIKELY IN AND AROUND
RENO AND CARSON CITY TODAY AS WELL...BUT NO ACCUMULATIONS ARE
EXPECTED THERE.

WINDS ARE GOING TO BE THE OTHER BIG ISSUE TODAY. SURFACE PRESSURE
HAS BOTTOMED OUT IN THE 990S THIS MORNING...EVEN HERE IN RENO. THE
LATEST SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT MODELS...PARTICULARLY THE
NAM...IS TOO FAR EAST WITH THE SURFACE TROUGH THIS MORNING. THE GFS
INITIALIZATION IS BETTER WITH THE CURRENT SURFACE PRESSURE...AND MOS
GUIDANCE IS INDICATING SUSTAINED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 30 KTS FOR KRNO
AND KNFL. THIS WILL BE A GRADIENT DRIVEN EVENT AND SUSTAINED WINDS
WILL LIKELY BE QUITE STRONG...UP TO 35 MPH LATE THIS MORNING AND
AFTERNOON WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. WINDS WILL QUICKLY DIMINISH THIS
EVENING AS THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WEAKENS. A WIND ADVISORY
HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RENO/CC/MINDEN EAST INTO THE BASIN AND RANGE.

TEMPERATURES TODAY AND TOMORROW WILL BE WELL BELOW AVERAGE FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR...UPPER 30S TO AROUND 40 IN THE SIERRA AND UPPER 40S TO
LOW 50S IN THE VALLEYS OF WRN NV. OVERNIGHT TEMPS WILL LIKELY DROP
BELOW FREEZING IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA.

ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY
BRINGING ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO THE SIERRA AND POTENTIALLY MORE
SPILLOVER INTO WRN NV. MODEL QPF IS QUITE A BIT HIGHER WITH THIS
SYSTEM AS COMPARED TO THE ONE MOVING THROUGH TODAY...ESPECIALLY
ACROSS NWRN NV...NORTH OF HWY 50. MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING WETTER
WITH THIS SYSTEM...AND ADDITIONAL WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES OR
WATCHES/WARNINGS MAY BE NEEDED FOR THE SIERRA. SCV

.LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...
MODELS STILL SHOW QUITE A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY FOR THE END OF THE WEEK
AND NEXT WEEKEND...BUT THERE ARE SOME NOTICEABLE TRENDS AND A
GENERAL PREFERRED SOLUTION IN THE ENSEMBLES. UPPER LOW OVERHEAD WED
WILL SLOWLY PULL EAST WITH SOME ISOLD-SCT SHOWERS WITH SNOW LEVELS
OFF THE VALLEY FLOORS FINALLY. WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGING BEGINNING THU
INTO FRI...BUT TEMPS WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL AS NORTH TO NORTHEAST
SFC GRADIENT REMAINS. MODELS IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS
WITH MAIN DIFFERENCE IN TEMPS. COULD REACH NORMAL FRI IF
WARMEST/MOST PROGRESSIVE SOLUTIONS VERIFY. HOWEVER...PREFER SLOWER
EC HERE AS CUT-OFFS CAN BE VERY SLOW TO MOVE EAST THIS TIME OF YEAR.

BY SAT...GFS/EC BOTH SHOW CUT-OFF DEVELOPING OFF THE COAST AND ARE
VERY SIMILAR WITH SUB 555 DM H5 HEIGHTS IN THE CORE AT 130W. IN
CONTRAST...GEM IS MUCH WEAKER AND TAKES THE LOW INTO UTAH AND THUS
MUCH WARMER. WHILE IT HAS SOME SUPPORT FROM THE GFS
ENSEMBLE...BELIEVE THIS IS VERY UNLIKELY TO OCCUR AND PREFER GFS/EC
IDEAS FOR A COUPLE REASONS. ONE...EC ENSEMBLE OVERWHELMINGLY
SUPPORTS THIS IDEA AND TWO...WHEN OPERATIONAL GFS/EC IN GOOD
AGREEMENT...THEY ARE RARELY FAR OFF. WILL KEEP SAT TEMPS WARMING TO
AROUND AVERAGE...BUT THEY COULD JUST AS WELL BE COOLER IF EC
VERIFIES. ALSO...WITH CUT-OFF LOW OFF THE COAST AND AREA UNDER
DIFFLUENT NORTHEAST QUAD COULD SEE SOME AFTERNOON CONVECTION OVER
THE SIERRA. NOT TOO SURE ABOUT THIS AS THE LOW IS OFF THE COAST AND
LOW-MID LEVELS ARE STILL QUITE DRY. HOWEVER...POSSIBILITY IS THERE
AND THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH PREV FCST. WALLMANN

&&

.AVIATION...
IFR/LIFR FOR KTVL/KTRK THRU 15Z THIS MORNING. MDT SNOW BAND MOVING
THRU WITH RUNWAY ACCUMULATIONS 2-3 INCHES. VERY HIGH CONFIDENCE THRU
15Z. AFT 15Z...COULD SEE A BIT OF A BREAK WITH SOME MVFR/VFR CONDS
THRU 20Z. THEN COLD POOL ALOFT ARRIVES WITH -SHSN AT TIMES. CONDS
IFR IN SHOWERS WITH CIGS/VIS BLO 1500 FEET/3SM AND MVFR/VFR IN
BETWEEN. SHOWERS TO END AROUND 04Z. COULD ALSO SEE FZFG MON MORNING
KTRK 11-14Z IF SKIES CLEAR ENOUGH. WINDS ALSO CONCERN WITH SW WINDS
STRONGEST BETWEEN 15-19Z AND PK GUSTS TO 35 KTS. WINDS GRADUALLY
BACK OFF DURING THE AFTERNOON.

KRNO...SOME OCNL -SHRASN THIS MORNING FM 11-15Z. CIGS/VIS TO DROP AS
LOW AS 2 KFT/5 SM IN SHOWERS. THEN VFR THRU 22Z. ABT 20-30 PCT CHC
OF -SHGS THIS AFTERNOON AS COLD POOL MOVES OVERHEAD. CIGS/VIS
SIMILAR TO MORNING SHOWERS IN THESE OTRW VFR. WINDS ALSO GUSTY WITH
PK GUSTS NR 40 KTS FROM W 16-20Z THEN SLOWLY BACKING OFF IN THE
AFTERNOON. VFR CONDS AFT 02Z WITH WINDS 10KTS OR LESS. WALLMANN

&&

.REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM PDT THIS EVENING
     NVZ003-004.

     LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS
     EVENING FOR LAKE TAHOE IN NVZ002.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING NVZ002.

CA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING CAZ073.

     LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 11 PM PDT THIS
     EVENING FOR LAKE TAHOE IN CAZ072.

     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM PDT THIS MORNING CAZ072.

&&

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/RENO

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 6:04 AM PST, 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
704 AM PDT SUN MAY 15 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0620 AM     SNOW             ALPINE MEADOWS          39.17N 120.22W
05/15/2011  M7.0 INCH        PLACER             CA   PUBLIC

            OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TOTAL AT ALPINE MEADOWS SKI RESORT.

0701 AM     SNOW             SQUAW VALLEY            39.20N 120.22W
05/15/2011  M4.0 INCH        PLACER             CA   PUBLIC

            OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TOTAL AT SQUAW VALLEY USA SKI RESORT.

&&

MCGUIRE

Local storm report, May 15, 6:26 AM PST, 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
726 AM PDT SUN MAY 15 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0620 AM     SNOW             ALPINE MEADOWS          39.17N 120.22W
05/15/2011  M7.0 INCH        PLACER             CA   PUBLIC

            OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TOTAL AT ALPINE MEADOWS SKI RESORT.

0701 AM     SNOW             SQUAW VALLEY            39.20N 120.22W
05/15/2011  M4.0 INCH        PLACER             CA   PUBLIC

            OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TOTAL AT SQUAW VALLEY USA SKI RESORT.

0725 AM     SNOW             DONNER SUMMIT           39.33N 120.39W
05/15/2011  M7.0 INCH        NEVADA             CA   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

            OVERNIGHT SNOWFALL TOTAL AT DONNER SUMMIT.

&&

MCGUIRE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Mineral/Southern Lyon

When: May 15, 6:30 AM PST to 9:30 AM PST
Where: Mineral/Southern Lyon forecast zone
Measured: 43 kt (49 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $100
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 38.780, -118.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Widespread wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph accompanied this system. Isolated high winds also occurred, with the wind prone Walker Lake NDOT sensor recording gusts between 60 and 75 mph with a gust to 80 mph at 0643PST.

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nevada in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, May 2011

Sources

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: 312659.