Strong winds developed on the morning of April 12, 2018 across the Ruby Mountains and southeastern Elko County. Winds were recorded at several observational sites of 56 to 66 MPH.
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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.
Strong winds developed on the morning of April 12, 2018 across the Ruby Mountains and southeastern Elko County. Winds were recorded at several observational sites of 56 to 66 MPH. No damage reports were received from the wind event.
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 Apr 12, 2:19 AM PST, 2 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Elko NV 319 AM PDT Thu Apr 12 2018 .SYNOPSIS...Strong winds, rain, snow, and clouds will be occurring across much of northern and central Nevada through the day. Isolated showers are possible tonight with breezy to windy conditions continuing. High pressure will build in Friday night through the weekend with warming temperatures. Another weather system is set to impact northern and central Nevada Monday into Tuesday with wind, rain, and snow. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Saturday. Radar is starting to fill this morning especially in the eastern part of the forecast area. Also, winds have been strong at many locations with peak wind speeds of 30 to 45 mph. As such, decided to move the start time of the wind products to current time and also issued an advisory for Humboldt county. Everything appears on track with the current storm system and other than the wind products, have kept the winter weather advisories intact. The upper level system will progress during the day with strong winds and much cooler temperatures. Highs this afternoon are only expected to make it into the 30s and 40s. Snow amounts will generally range from a trace to perhaps one to three inches in the valleys near the border with Idaho. Some shower activity will continue into tonight as a northwest flow and moisture move over the area. Very limited accumulations, if any, are expected in the northern valleys. Overnight lows will be in the 20s. By Friday, the flow will be out of the north with upper level ridging trying to build over the area. Skies will be partly sunny with some clouds from time to time. Highs for the afternoon will be in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Northwest winds will be breezy to windy in the central and east. Wind speeds are expected to remain below advisory criteria. Clear conditions will be prevalent during the overnight period with lows in the 20s and 30s. The ridge will flatten on Saturday but it should be quiet and calm. Winds will be on the light side with the flow changing to the west. This will result in warmer highs with readings in the upper 50s to mid 60s. .LONG TERM...Saturday night through next Wednesday. Models remain in very good agreement through the long term period and the flow continues to be progressive. The long term starts with southwest flow ahead of the next system. Its looks to be another windy day on Sunday and the warm air advection raises the temperatures into the 60's and lower 70's. Models are slowing the cold front's arrival and are now moving it through on Monday during the day rather than Sunday night, which will limit valley snow accumulations. The strongest winds from this system appear at this time to be in eastern Nevada on Monday afternoon just ahead of the cold front, where High Wind Warnings may be warranted. This will be dependent on whether the models hold to this time frame for the cold front passage in future model runs. Snow showers will decrease in coverage Monday night and by Tuesday will mainly be confined to the higher elevations of Elko County. Snowfall totals at this early juncture look to be around an inch or less in valleys and 2 to 4 inches in the higher elevations of Elko County. Temperatures will drop below normal Monday night through Tuesday only to warm again on Wednesday to near normal as southwest flow returns ahead of yet another system. && .AVIATION...A few snow showers possible KEKO, KWMC, and KELY, mainly this morning, accompanied by MVFR conditions with a very low chance of tempo IFR. Main story is the strong winds for all stations today. West to northwest to 35 knots gusting to around 45 knots at times and continuing well into the evening. Slight chance for a thunderstorm in the vicinity of KEKO & KWMC this afternoon, but too low of a chance to include in the TAFs. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening for Northern Elko County-Ruby Mountains/East Humboldt Range-South Central Elko County. Winter Weather Advisory above 6500 feet until 11 PM PDT this evening for Northern Elko County-Ruby Mountains/East Humboldt Range. Wind Advisory until 11 AM PDT this morning for Northern Elko County-Ruby Mountains/East Humboldt Range-South Central Elko County. Wind Advisory until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for Humboldt County. High Wind Warning until 5 AM PDT Friday for Southeastern Elko County. Wind Advisory until 11 PM PDT this evening for Northeastern Nye County-Northern Lander County and Northern Eureka County- Southern Lander County and Southern Eureka County-Southwestern Elko County-White Pine County. High Wind Warning until 5 PM PDT this afternoon for Northwestern Nye County. Wind Advisory from 5 PM this afternoon to 11 PM PDT this evening for Northwestern Nye County. && 86/90/90
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 63 MPH was recorded in Ruby Valley.
A wind gust to 66 MPH occurred at Spring Gulch RAWS.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2018
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: 744663, 744662.