A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of northern Nevada. Many valleys reported 4 to 8 inches of snow while the mountains received 6 to 10 inches of snow.
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 LKN wrote it up.
A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of northern Nevada. Many valleys reported 4 to 8 inches of snow while the mountains received 6 to 10 inches of snow.
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 22, 4:25 PM PST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 425 PM PST SUN JAN 22 2012 .SYNOPSIS...THE BREAK IN THE WINTER WEATHER COMES TO AND END SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM ENTERS NEVADA. THE SYSTEM IS COLD ENOUGH TO PRODUCE ACCUMULATING SNOWS OVER MUCH OF NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN NEVADA. SOME TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES WILL ARISE...MAINLY MONDAY. ANOTHER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE RETURNS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES AND MILD WEATHER. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. OLD SHORT RIDGE HAS MADE ITS WAY RAPIDLY OUT AND SKIES RETURNED TO CLOUDY OVER NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA AS THE NEXT SHORT WAVE MOVES CLOSER. ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WAVE IS A MODERATELY LONG FETCH OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE A LA WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. IT'S NOT AN IMPRESSIVE FETCH...BUT HAS ENABLED WEAK DYNAMICS TO PRODUCE SOME VERY LIGHT RAIN/SNOW OVER THE GREAT BASIN. RADAR SHOWS PATCHY PRECIP MOVING RAPIDLY EAST TOWARD ELKO THIS AFTERNOON. BEHIND THIS PATCH IS THE REAL TROUGH WHICH WILL PRODUCE A 110 KT JET ALONG THE COAST. AS THE JET APPROACHES...THE MAIN DEEP LAYER RH MOVES EAST ACROSS THE STATE SO THAT THE LEFT FRONT QUAD OF THE JET IS NOT IN A PRIME LOCATION FOR SERIOUS SNOWS. STILL...ENOUGH COLD AIR...DYNAMICS...AND RH EXIST FOR TO ACCUMULATIONS OF A FEW TO SEVERAL INCHES IN MAINLY HUMBOLDT...THE WESTERN PORTION OF ELKO...AND NORTHERN LANDER/EUREKA COUNTIES. HAVE THEREFORE ISSUED A WINTER WX ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM MONDAY FOR THESE ZONES. NOT EXPECTING SERIOUS WINDS AT THIS TIME. BEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE ON WINDWARD FACING SLOPES. LOOKS LIKE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL OCCUR EACH ZONE...BUT NOT AS MUCH IN NORTHERN NYE...WHITE PINE...AND MOST OF ELKO COUNTY. AFTER THE TROUGH PASSES MONDAY NIGHT ANOTHER FLAT DIRTY RIDGE MOVES IN AND HELPS TO MODERATE WEATHER. HOWEVER...IT LOOKS LIKE A SLOW WARM UP AS MOST OF THE UPPER TRAJECTORIES ARE OFF THE OCEAN FROM WEST TO EAST. HENCE...AIR MASS REMAINS A BIT MOIST. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT SUNDAY. GFS AND ECMWF HAVE COME INTO A BIT MORE AGREEMENT WITH SHORTWAVE TROUGH PROGGED SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CWA ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE DOMINANT PNA RIDGE ON THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THEY BOTH ARE STRONGER WITH THE FEATURE...HOWEVER GFS STILL KEEPS MOST PRECIP AWAY TO THE NORTHEAST WHILE ECMWF BRINGS WIDESPREAD SNOW SHOWERS. INCREASED POPS A BIT TO ACCOUNT FOR BEAFED UP ECMWF DEPICTION...BUT STILL NOT A WHOLE LOT IN THE FORECAST JUST YET GIVEN UNCERTAINTY. ANOTHER TROUGH MAY SLIDE DOWN SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...THOUGH THIS ONE APPEARS WEAKER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES WILL BE QUITE MILD AHEAD OF THE TROUGH AND ATTENDANT COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY WITH READINGS WELL ABOVE NORMAL. SOME COOLING WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT...BUT OVERALL TEMPERATURES SHOULD ONLY DIP DOWN TO NEAR NORMAL IF THAT. RCM && .AVIATION...NEXT STORM SYSTEM MOVING IN FROM THE PACIFIC WILL RESULT IN LOWERING CIGS THIS EVENING AND THEN LOWERING VIS EARLY MONDAY MORNING AS SNOW MOVES INTO THE REGION. WORST CONDITIONS WITH A PERIOD OF LIKELY IFR CIGS/VIS EXPECTED AROUND WMC...THOUGH SIMILARLY POOR WEATHER MAY OCCUR AT KEKO. UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDS THE SEVERITY OF IMPACTS AT KTPH AS MUCH OF THE SNOW MAY BYPASS TO THE NORTH. KELY IMPACTS WILL BE DELAYED PRIMARILY UNTIL MONDAY AFTERNOON. RCM && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM PST MONDAY FOR HUMBOLDT COUNTY...NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY...NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY. && 98/93/93
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 323 PM PST SUN JAN 22 2012 NVZ030-031-036-232330- HUMBOLDT COUNTY-NORTHERN ELKO COUNTY- NORTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND NORTHERN EUREKA COUNTY- 323 PM PST SUN JAN 22 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NEVADA...NORTHEAST NEVADA AND NORTHWEST NEVADA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL ENTER WESTERN NEVADA TONIGHT AND MAKE ITS WAY THROUGH NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA OVERNIGHT. ACCUMULATING SNOWS WILL BEGIN LATER TONIGHT. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED STARTING 1 AM PST MONDAY. THE PRIMARY PROBLEM WILL BE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. AT THIS TIME...WINDS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE DANGEROUS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS WAY THROUGH NORTHERN AND CENTRAL NEVADA MONDAY. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE GENERALLY FROM 1 TO 4 INCHES IN VALLEYS WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE MOUNTAINS. AFTER THIS SYSTEM PASSES...A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL PRODUCE MORE MILD WEATHER THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. .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.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Wild Horse Reservoir reported 9 inches of new snow. Many SNOTEL sites reported 7 to 8 inches of snow.
SNOTEL's reported 5 to 10 inches of snow.
A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of southern Elko county. Lamoille reported 10 inches of snow, and Spring Creek between 7 and 8 inches.
A cooperative observer in McDermitt reported 6 inches of new snow. The SNOTEL on Golconda Summit reported 6 inches of snow. SNOTEL sites in the Santa Rosa range reported 8 inches of snow.
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: 354925, 354948, 354929, 354920.