Strong downslope winds were observed along the lee side of the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt range and adjacent valleys. Wind gusts up to 77 mph were observed.
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.
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.
Strong downslope winds were observed along the lee side of the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt range and adjacent valleys. Wind gusts up to 77 mph were observed.
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 21, 2:49 AM PST, 9 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 249 AM PST SAT JAN 21 2012 .SYNOPSIS...A MOISTURE LADEN PACIFIC STORM WILL PUSH ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN TODAY AND THROUGH TONIGHT PRODUCING HEAVY SNOWS IN THE MOUNTAINS ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS. IN THE VALLEYS...EXPECTING RAIN FIRST FOLLOWED BY A RAPID DECREASE IN TEMPERATURES. BLACK ICE POSSIBLE LATER THIS EVENING AND EARLY SUNDAY. A BRIEF BREAK WILL OCCUR SUNDAY BUT ANOTHER STORM IS LOOMING ON THE HORIZON FOR MONDAY. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY. REGIONAL RADAR AND PROGGED SKEWT DATA INDICATE THAT A MOIST AIRMASS IS IN PLACE OVER THE LKN CWA. THE LIONS SHARE OF THE QPF IS EXPECTED TODAY BEFORE 00Z SUNDAY...WITH PWS CRESTING .60 OF AN INCH TODAY. BOTH THE MET AND THE MAV HAVE ELKO WELL ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST OF TODAY...WHICH MEANS THAT THE CITY OF ELKO IS EXPECTING RAIN FIRST. THIS EVENING ...STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION INTO NORTHERN NEVADA WILL RESULT IN TEMPERATURES RAPIDLY DROPPING BELOW FREEZING TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY... RESULTING IN THE FORMATION OF BLACK ICE. CONCURRENTLY...SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY. A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL BUT HUMBOLDT AND EASTERN ELKO COUNTIES AS CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT CRITERIA WILL BE MET ABOVE 6000 FEET. LATER TONIGHT SOME ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED ON VALLEY FLOORS...HOWEVER IMPRESSIVE ACCUMULATIONS ANTICIPATED ABOVE 7000 FEET. ADDITIONALLY...THE GEFS ENSEMBLE MEAN IS PROJECTING POSITIVE V-COMPONENT AND U-COMPONENT ANOMALIES 2 TO 3 STANDARD DEVIATIONS. A WIND ADVISORY FOR HUMBOLDT AND EASTERN ELKO COUNTIES HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR TODAY. FOR REMAINDER OF AREA MENTIONED HIGHER WINDS IN WINTER STORM WARNING. PRECIPITATION ACTIVITY WILL TAPER OFF ON SUNDAY. HOWEVER...A SECOND SYSTEM WILL BE CLOSING IN ON THE SILVER STATE AND WILL BE ON DECK EARLY MONDAY. MORE WINTRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM...WITH SNOW LEVELS EASILY 1000 FEET LOWER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR...WITH THE TROP FOLD CLIPPING SOUTHERN NEVADA. THIS SECOND SYSTEM COULD BE A MAJOR QPF EVENT FOR NORTHERN NYE...AND THE JARBIDGE WILDERNESS AREA. HOWEVER...GIVEN THE VAGARIES OF THE MODELS...HAVE HELD OFF ON ISSUING HEADLINE PRODUCTS FOR THIS SECOND STORM...WAITING FOR DETAILS TO FLESH OUT. .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY. A COLD TROUGH WILL BE EXITING THE STATE MONDAY NIGHT AND SHOWERS WILL BE TAPERING OFF WEST TO EAST. IN GENERAL THE MODELS ARE ALL OF THE SAME SOLUTION THROUGHOUT THE EXTENDED PERIOD. AFTER THE TROUGH EXITS...A SHORT WAVE LOW-AMPLITUDE RIDGE WILL SETTLE IN THROUGH MID-WEEK. LATE NEXT WEEK THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE ZONAL. THE RESULT OF THE MILD PATTERN SUGGESTS EACH PERIOD HAVE SOME SHOWERS PRIMARILY NEAR THE NORTHERN BORDER AREAS AND VERY LITTLE TO WORRY ABOUT SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. && .AVIATION...A COLD FRONT WILL BRING RAIN FOR ALL TAF SITES TODAY...TURNING TO SNOW AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. MVFR CIGS AND VIS CAN BE EXPECTED INTERMITTENTLY TODAY WITH SHOWERS TAPERING OFF THIS EVENING WEST TO EAST. STRONG WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE FRONT. FROPA SATURDAY SHOULD OCCUR AT...KWMC AROUND 12Z...KEKO AROUND 15Z...KTPH AROUND 16Z...AND KELY AROUND 21Z. KELY HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF LOW IFR CONDITIONS SATURDAY...WITH A COUPLE INCHES OF SNOW LIKELY BETWEEN 18Z SATURDAY AND 00Z SUNDAY. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 7 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY...NORTHERN NYE 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 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR EXTREME EASTERN ELKO COUNTY...HUMBOLDT COUNTY. && 97/92/92
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 202 AM PST SAT JAN 21 2012 NVZ013-030>037-220315- 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- 202 AM PST SAT JAN 21 2012 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 THIS EVENING. A STRONG PACIFIC SYSTEM WILL IMPACT NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA TODAY. HEADLINE PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR WINTER WEATHER AND STRONG WINDS. EXPECTING A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. ABOVE 7000 FEET EXPECTING 10 TO 18 INCHES OF FRESH SNOW. DURING THE MORNING THE WINDS WILL HAVE A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT. HOWEVER WITH THE FRONT COMING THROUGH THE REGION EXPECTING THE WIND TO SHIFT LATER TODAY FROM WEST TO NORTHWEST 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 45 AND 50 MPH. THE TEMPERATURES WILL PLUMMET THIS EVENING...AND LOCATIONS THAT RECEIVED RAIN MAY HAVE BLACK ICE FORMATION. ROADS CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE TODAY. PEQUOP SUMMIT ON INTERSTATE 80 WILL BE PROBLEMATIC TODAY. RAIN...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL LEAD TO REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. SUNDAY THERE WILL BE A LULL IN ACTIVITY ALTHOUGH ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE POSSIBLE. ALL THE WHILE...THE NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM WILL BE CLOSING IN ON THE SILVER STATE AND IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE REGION ON MONDAY. THIS WILL BE A COLDER SYSTEM AND PREDOMINATELY A SNOW EVENT. TUESDAY THE RIDGE WILL BUILD BACK INTO NEVADA...RESULTING IN DRIER CONDITIONS. THE IMPACT OF THIS RIDGE ON THE AREA WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE AMOUNT OF SNOW OR LACK OF SNOW IN THE VALLEYS. .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.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 68 mph was reported at the Ruby Valley RAWS.
A wind gust to 77 mph was recorded at the Warm Springs NDOT mesonet site and a gust to 75 mph was reported by the Ruby Lake RAWS.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, January 2012
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: 354910, 354907.