The Virginia Mountains Complex, which was started by lightning on July 28th, was fully contained on the 5th. The complex burned over 62,000 acres, with the largest fire in the complex being the Tule Fire which burned about 36,000 acres.
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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 REV wrote it up.
The Virginia Mountains Complex, which was started by lightning on July 28th, was fully contained on the 5th. The complex burned over 62,000 acres, with the largest fire in the complex being the Tule Fire which burned about 36,000 acres.
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 Jul 31, 6:57 PM PST, 5 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Reno NV
757 PM PDT SUN JUL 31 2016
.UPDATE...
Thunderstorms have exited the area with isolated showers over far
southern Mineral County on their way out. Skies were clearing
across Mono and northern Mineral Counties and this trend should
continue overnight. Winds continue to gust generally around 25 mph
but should slowly diminish from west to east this evening. Ridges
across western NV were still blowing quite strong with gusts
around 50 mph on Virginia Peak. These winds should also slowly
back off overnight. We have sent updates to reflect these latest
trends and no other adjustments are expected this evening. Hohmann
&&
.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... /Issued 217 PM PDT SUN JUL 31 2016/
SYNOPSIS...
Moisture and afternoon instability will keep slight chances of
thunderstorms in the forecast through Monday. However, most of
the convection will be limited to areas south of Highway 50.
Expect an increase in afternoon winds through Tuesday across
northeast California and western Nevada. A slightly cooler flow
pattern develops beyond Tuesday, but a weak trough of low pressure
could return moisture and the chance for thunderstorms to Mono and
Mineral counties Wednesday and Thursday.
SHORT TERM...
Very little change in the short term this cycle. The lingering
questions revolve around how much convection will develop late
this afternoon and Monday over southern portions of the forecast
area; how gusty the winds may become by Tuesday north of I-80;
and how much smoke and haze we will see through the forecast along
with its location.
Model guidance pins most instability south of Highway 50 this
afternoon and again Monday. Some model simulations show better
coverage Monday than this afternoon. Either way...the convection
should be mainly isolated each afternoon. Precipitable water
values from this morning's sounding where less than yesterday...so
any storms today should have less rain and more chance for gusty
outflow winds. The same is likely to be true Monday.
Tuesday looks dry throughout the forecast area with some cumulus
along the Sierra and other ranges in the southern third of the
forecast area. There is a better chance of isolated convection
Wednesday due to light flow and mid level convergence.
The northern half of the forecast area is likely to see
increasing winds late this afternoon through Tuesday. The
strongest winds are likely Tuesday as there is some jet support at
that time...albeit only minor support. These winds could cause
critical fire weather conditions. See the Fire Weather section
below for more on these winds.
Smoke and haze can be difficult to forecast due to difficulties in
projecting how actively each fire will burn from day to day. Smoke
is more likely downwind of the Virginia Mountains Complex and
Poodle Fire north of Reno. Haze is affecting a significant portion
of the area from northeast California into western Nevada due to
local fires and the remnants of smoke from the Soberanes Fire near
Big Sur. The haze will lift slightly each day in the Tahoe Basin
and near the Sierra Front as westerly winds develop...but this
will just tend to push the thicker portions east. We will spread
haze much wider than smoke for the next two days...then see how
the fire activity evolves with time. XX
LONG TERM...
The ECMWF is coming around to the GFS solution of producing a
trough offshore by late Wednesday then drifting it inland
Thursday...before lifting the trough out by Saturday to be
replaced with a deeper long wave trough anchored off the Pac NW
coast.
This solution would result in a better chance of moisture being
pulled north into the southern and eastern parts of the forecast
area Thursday. The best moisture would remain well to the
east...but the slower nature of the trough means we have added a
slight chance of thunderstorms for Thursday to areas along and
east of a line from roughly Mammoth Lakes in Mono County to
Middlegate in Churchill County.
The short wave trough swings north of the region by midday Friday
before the next long wave trough approaches. This long wave trough
may lower high temperatures below average by Saturday and Sunday
with increasing southwest flow bringing stability to the air mass.
The one negative is it could also increase afternoon winds to
slightly above the typical zephyr-type breezes...but that is a low
probability at this time. XX
AVIATION...
A few thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon and early
this evening across parts of Mono...Mineral and southern Lyon
counties. Gusty outflow winds are possible with these storms.
This will be the same for Monday as well.
Elsewhere...haze and smoke will reduce flight level visibility
and slant range visibility for landing operations across a large
portion of the forecast area. The areas with the least impact
from smoke and haze will be north and west of Susanville...well
north of Gerlach and south of Hawthorne and Mono Lake. The smoke
and haze are likely to persist through the early part of the week.
XX
FIRE WEATHER...
We issued a Fire Weather Watch for Tuesday afternoon in far
northeast CA/Northwest NV as tail end of trough passage across
the Pacific Northwest has a better chance of kicking up the wind a
bit higher than today and Monday, with gusts up to 35 mph Tuesday.
We initially excluded the Surprise Valley as this area tends to
receive less wind and a shorter duration of low humidity in
post-trough environments.
Local gusts slightly above 30 mph will be possible from I-80
northward through early this evening, but not widespread enough
to warrant any Red Flag products for today. Winds should be
slightly lower Monday, with a more notable drop in wind speeds by
Wednesday. MJD
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Fire Weather Watch from Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday
evening NVZ458.
CA...Fire Weather Watch from Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday
evening CAZ278.
&&
For more information from the National Weather Service visit...
http://weather.gov/renoThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Major fire fighting efforts for the Virginia Fire Complex ended on the 4th. Pyramid Lake was re-opened for recreational use on the 5th by the Paiute Tribe.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, August 2016
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: 649041.