A quick moving cold front produced gusty winds and light snow showers in parts of northern and eastern Nevada over a 2 day period.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 quick moving cold front produced gusty winds and light snow showers in parts of northern and eastern Nevada over a 2 day period.
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 Dec 22, 2:25 AM PST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Elko NV 225 AM PST Tue Dec 22 2020 .SYNOPSIS...A cold front will quickly move through the region producing light snow showers mainly in northern Nevada this morning followed by breezy conditions during the afternoon. Midweek will be cold and dry leading up to Christmas Day with morning lows getting down into the single digits above and below zero. The next weather system will produce some light snow showers Friday night into Saturday before a stronger system with more moisture could produce a better chance of snow Sunday night into early next week. && .SHORT TERM...Tuesday through Thursday (Christmas Eve Day). A cold front with limited moisture will quickly move through the region this morning producing light snow showers and breezy conditions mainly in northern Nevada, and especially in northeastern Elko County where winds could gust into the 30 to near 40 mph range. Colder and drier air will overspread the region for midweek with fair skies and minimum temperatures getting down into the single digits above and below zero on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Otherwise, generally good weather will prevail for Holiday travel in Nevada this afternoon through Christmas Day. .LONG TERM...Christmas Eve through next Tuesday. A negative tilted long wave ridge axis will continue to recede east of Nevada overnight Christmas Eve. A weak upper wave will drifts east over southern Nevada behind the retreating upper ridge as it through Christmas day. The resulting split in the upper flow will allow a southwest upper flow to increase over northern Nevada and the Great Basin with Christmas day still on track to remain mostly dry and cool. But increasing layers of mid and high level cloudiness will announce the impending arrival of another batch of Pacific moisture and upper forcing entering into the state by Saturday. Ensemble model guidance still foresees some moisture breaking further inland across northern Nevada as a weakened atmospheric river sweeps south across California. With that said most precipitation will largely remain light across the region as the cold frontal boundary sweeps east across northern Nevada. Snow accumulations will be light and mostly focused across northern Nevada with lesser amounts directed over central Nevada. Gusty conditions from the west at and behind the frontal boundary will be focused mostly towards the northeast corner of Elko county. Otherwise winds should not a major role during the long range forecast period. Through Sunday morning a progressive upper ridge will sweep any remaining moisture and precipitation east out of the region. Later Sunday the upper flow will shift and increase from the southwest ahead of the next low pressure system expected to influence the Great Basin early next week. This deeper and more organized short wave and cold frontal boundary will rapidly cross the state Monday with a thicker fetch of Pacific moisture directed towards central Nevada. Mountain passes and higher elevation areas of this region could see increased impacts from the accompanying increased chances of more snow with this storm. Model differences increase forecast uncertainty and therefore it ts still to soon to nail down storm timing and strength at this time. Highs drop from 30s and 40s Christmas day to mostly 20s and 30s by Monday. Lows Friday in the single digits and teens. Some higher northern valleys locations that receive some new snow could see lows on some mornings drop well below zero as skies clear out after passage of each low pressure system. && .AVIATION...A cold front will move through the area bringing clouds and light snow showers to mainly the northern terminals of KEKO, KBAM, and KWMC during the morning hours. Snow showers will remain on the light side with CIGs and visibilities remaining mainly VFR though brief intervals of MVFR are possible. Low clouds and snow showers will lead to some mountain obscurations especially in the north. Winds will be gusty with the passage of the system for all stations but KWMC. Gusts into the 20's kt range will be most prominent. Look for clearing skies this afternoon with diminishing winds by evening. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 95/97/95
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Morey Creek Raws (MORN2), Elevation 5500 feet.
Station 4.3 miles east Baker DRI (DNEP8), Elevation 5185 feet.
Spring Gulch Raws (SPGN2), Elevation 5470 feet.
Station (WSPNV) 6.3 S Clover Valley, Elevation 5794 feet.
Station 3.1 SE West Wendover UPR (UP994), Elevation 4408 feet.
Station 0.6 west Pequop Summit (PEQNV), Elevation 6954 feet.
Ruby Lake Raws (RLKN2), Elevation 5970 feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 2020
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: 927641, 927670, 927638, 927650, 927685, 927681, 927658.