A closed upper low over the Pacific Northwest brought gusty winds to portions of the eastern Sierra Nevada and western Nevada from late afternoon on the 8th through the morning hours of the 9th.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 REV wrote it up.
A closed upper low over the Pacific Northwest brought gusty winds to portions of the eastern Sierra Nevada and western Nevada from late afternoon on the 8th through the morning hours of the 9th.
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 Nov 8, 2:34 PM PST, 8 hours 41 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED
National Weather Service Reno NV
234 PM PST Wed Nov 8 2017
.SYNOPSIS...
A Pacific storm will continue to move through Northeast California
and Western Nevada through Friday. Winds will continue to be gusty
into Friday morning with the strongest winds Thursday morning.
Rain and high elevation snow will be possible mainly north of I-80
with snow only affecting the highest passes. A break is expected
Saturday before the next storm arrives late Sunday into Monday.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
A few changes were made to the going forecast, mainly in regards
to precip and the timing of the strongest winds. Overall the
general forecast paradigm remains the same with gusty winds and
rain/snow mainly north of I-80 with high snow levels.
For the winds, current statements look good as far as the peak
gusts. The timing for the strongest winds will likely be from
around midnight tonight into mid morning Thursday. Our strongest
winds typically occur shortly before the main cold front and it is
expected to move through around 10Z near the Oregon border to 18Z
for the I-80/U.S. 50 corridors. The peak gusts look to be around
50 mph for the advisory areas in the valleys, locally 65 mph in
wind prone areas and up to 40 mph elsewhere. Sierra ridge gusts
over Tahoe will be up to 100 mph and up to 80 for Mono County.
As for precip, the models are trending a little wetter, and this
looks reasonable given the strength of the front on the coast.
Also, the front hangs together with decent upper level support
north of Susanville and Gerlach. This should support some decent
spillover with amounts in the lee side areas there around 1/4".
Further to the west, rain amounts up to 1" look good for Western
Lassen down to the Sierra Crest in North Tahoe. Snow levels will
remain high, currently near 8000 feet around Tahoe and 7000 feet
north. They will high into tomorrow morning, but only fall
500-1000 feet with the front. This will keep them above all major
passes.
A secondary wave will move through Thursday night and push a
little more cold air into the region. It is not as wet, and most
of the moisture will remain north of I-80 once again. It exits the
area Friday with only lingering showers with dry conditions
expected for Saturday. Overall temperatures are not expected to
change much and remain near average during the day and above
average at night due to winds, cloud cover and precip. Saturday
morning will be the exception with less cloud cover and wind
resulting in near average lows.
.LONG TERM...Sunday through Wednesday...
The overall idea the medium range deterministic model solutions
and most of the GEFS ensemble members have carried forward from
previous runs remains the same. The main differences are a bit of
a slowing in the timing of the onset of precipitation late Sunday
into Monday and how fast snow levels will fall.
With a delay in the onset of precipitation we would expect snow
levels to be a little higher to start the event...and that is borne
out by the latest model solutions. Also...this slowing of the
system...and a strengthening of winds aloft...is resulting in an
increase in winds ahead of the system across northwest and far
western Nevada Monday night.
We have slowed the onset of precipitation...but increased pops over
northeast California for Monday morning as the main portion of the
storm moves inland. We have decreased pops late Sunday night and
early Monday for western Nevada. Except for far northwest Nevada it
appears the best instability will be with the frontal passage late
Monday afternoon/Tuesday evening in western Nevada.
The warmer temperatures/higher snow levels should lead to more in
the way of rain initially. QPF was actually increased a little early
Monday. Of course...this far out it is difficult to pinpoint timing
for the falling of the snow levels...and these could be a bit lower
than advertised. For now it looks like liquid totals approaching 1
inch from western Lassen County south along the Sierra Crest...then
decreasing to less than one-half inch in Mono County. Snow totals
could reach 8-12 inches at the highest elevations. Of course...this
is all very preliminary and could change as we get closer to the
event.
A brief lull period develops as the system pulls east Tuesday.
Another wave is lining up for Wednesday afternoon/evening...but the
dynamics are farther north with this one and mainly northeast
California would be impacted based on current solutions.
&&
.AVIATION...
Light precipitation should continue to increase over northeast
California...far northwest Nevada and the Tahoe basin this
evening. This should start to drive cigs/vsbys lower overnight and
into early Monday. IFR/MVFR conditions are likely for KTRK/KTVL
after midnight.
Most of the precipitation will be rain at the terminals. By Monday
morning there could be showers around KRNO/KCXP/KMEV...but VFR
conditions should persist.
Gusty winds increase at the terminals overnight with gusts
approaching 35-40 kt east of the Sierra. Low level wind shear and
turbulence are also likely into the evening and overnight hours
before winds shift to the west-northwest Thursday afternoon and
decrease.
Another fast-moving area of low pressure could bring rain/snow
showers along with gusty winds and lower cigs/vsbys Friday before
conditions improve Saturday.
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Thursday NVZ005.
Lake Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Thursday for Lake Tahoe in
NVZ002.
Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Thursday NVZ003.
Lake Wind Advisory from 6 AM to 7 PM PST Thursday for Pyramid
Lake in NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Thursday CAZ070-071.
Lake Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Thursday for Lake Tahoe in
CAZ072.
&&
For more information from the National Weather Service visit...
http://weather.gov/renoThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Squaw Crest mesonet reported a wind gust of 95 mph with sustained wind speeds between 58-63 mph near the observation time.
Ward Mountain Summit mesonet reported a sustained wind speed of 75 mph with a gust of 122 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in California, November 2017
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: 728722, 728721.