A winter storm dumped 6 to 12 inches of snow in many valley locations and up to 18 inches in the mountains. In addition winds gusting over 40 mph in White Pine county caused drifting of snow up to 4 feet deep making travel nearly impossible.
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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 LKN wrote it up.
A winter storm dumped 6 to 12 inches of snow in many valley locations and up to 18 inches in the mountains. In addition winds gusting over 40 mph in White Pine county caused drifting of snow up to 4 feet deep making travel nearly impossible. Schools and county offices were closed the next 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 Elko, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 30, 7:19 PM PST, 6 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV 719 PM PST SAT JAN 30 2016 .SYNOPSIS...LIGHT SNOW IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING AND NIGHT. HEAVIER SNOW TO CENTRAL NEVADA SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT...WITH BREEZY CONDITIONS ON MONDAY. SNOW FLURRIES LINGER MONDAY INTO TUESDAY WITH COOL AND DRY CONDITIONS WEDNESDAY. A LITTLE WARMER LATER THIS WEEK. && .UPDATE...PATCHY FREEZING FOG HAS DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF ELKO COUNTY THIS EVENING DUE TO RECENT PRECIPITATION AND PARTIAL CLEARING. ADDED PATCHY FREEZING FOG IN THE OVERNIGHT FORECAST FOR NORTHERN LANDER/EUREKA AND ELKO COUNTIES TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. ALSO...ELY'S TEMPERATURES IS DROPPING MUCH FASTER THAN ANTICIPATED SO FRESHENED UP THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURES TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS. TEXT PRODUCTS WILL BE SENT SOON. && .AVIATION UPDATE...PATCHY FREEZING FOG HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS KEKO THIS EVENING. ADDED FZFG TO THE TAF THROUGH 05Z TONIGHT...BUT WITH INCREASING CLOUD COVER...EXPECTING THE FZFG TO DISSIPATE SLOWLY. THERE MAY BE PATCHY AREAS WITHIN THE VICINITY OF THE AIRPORT...SO ADDED VCFG AFTER 05Z. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED AT 330 PM / SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. COLD FRONT THAT BROUGHT SNOW TO NORTHERN NEVADA EARLY THIS MORNING AND TO CENTRAL NEVADA DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON IS NOW EXITING THE CWA TO THE SOUTH. MAY SEE SOME SNOW SHOWERS LINGERING OVER CENTRAL NEVADA INTO THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY AROUND GREAT BASIN PARK WHERE ANOTHER INCH IS POSSIBLE...OTHERWISE SNOW IS ENDING. FLURRIES OVERNIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY MORNING ACROSS THE CWA BEFORE ANOTHER COLD FRONT BRINGS A FEW MORE INCHES OF SNOW TO CENTRAL NEVADA. TOOK DOWN THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL NEVADA THAT WAS SET TO EXPIRE AT 6PM...AND HAVE ALSO ISSUED A NEW ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA. THE NEW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON SUNDAY THROUGH 4AM MONDAY. HEAVIEST SNOW IS EXPECTED DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS...AT WHICH TIME NORTHERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TO AROUND 10 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH. EXPECT DRIFTING OF SNOW OVERNIGHT AS SNOW SHOWERS TAPER OFF. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE INTO MONDAY MORNING ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA. DECIDED TO HOLD OFF ON THE ISSUANCE OF A WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MODELS GET A LITTLE BETTER AGREEMENT ON SPEEDS. WINDS IN THE FORECAST WERE INCREASED CLOSER TO ADVISORY CRITERIA. SNOW FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS THE BROAD TROUGH GRADUALLY EXITS EAST. THE NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL HELP KEEP TEMPERATURE LOW. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. NO SIGNIFICANT QPF PRODUCERS THIS FORECAST PERIOD. A PAIR OF WEAK DISTURBANCES MAY BRING A DUSTING OF SNOW TO THE REGION ON MONDAY NIGHT AND AGAIN ON TUESDAY NIGHT...BUT VERY LITTLE SNOW EXPECTED. THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE WILL BE PINGING INTO THE LOW TEMPS. EXPECT MORE BRUTALLY COLD TEMPS...WITH SINGLE DIGITS AND A FEW VALLEYS SEEING NEGATIVE TEMPS. THE MEAN MAX TEMP FOR ELKO FOR FEB 3RD THRU FEB 5TH IS 38F...AND 39F FOR FEB 6TH AND 7TH. THIS PACKAGE...WENT 4-8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL...WITH THE MIN TEMPS FOLLOWING SUIT. SOME OF THE BASINS IN WHITE PINE COUNTY IS WHERE THE COLDEST TEMPS ARE EXPECTED THIS FORECAST PERIOD...BUT NONE OF THE HISTORIC/RECORD LOWS WILL BE CHALLENGED THIS PERIOD FOR ELY. THE GFS ENSM PROGS A NEAR NEUTRAL PNA PATTERN THIS FORECAST PERIOD. AVIATION...SEVERAL AMENDMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ISSUED TODAY FOR RAPID SHIFTS IN CATEGORY...MOSTLY RELATED TO CIGS. REMNANTS OF THIS FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE KTPH AND KELY...EXPECT MORE OBSCURED MT TOPS ACROSS NORTHERN NV. THE JET CORE IS DIRECTLY OVER CENTRAL NV...EXPECTING GUSTY WINDS ONCE THE SKIES CLEAR. LIGHT TO MOD TURBULENCE LIKELY. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON SUNDAY TO 4 AM PST MONDAY FOR NORTHEASTERN NYE COUNTY-NORTHWESTERN NYE COUNTY-SOUTHERN LANDER COUNTY AND SOUTHERN EUREKA COUNTY-WHITE PINE COUNTY. && 86/91/91
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A spotter in Tonopah and the Big Smoky Valley reported 11 inches of snow.
Around 10 inches of snow was reported in Eureka.
Six to twelve inches of snow was reported in many valley locations and up to 18 inches in the mountains. Winds gusting over 40 mph caused drifting of snow up to 4 feet deep making travel nearly impossible. Schools and county offices were closed the next day.
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, January 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: 613475, 613476, 613474.