A strong cold front moved northwest to southeast across western Nevada during the evening hours of February 29th into the early morning hours of March 1st. Snow developed behind the front, producing light to moderate amounts of snowfall along the Carson Range and lower valleys of western Nevada.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 strong cold front moved northwest to southeast across western Nevada during the evening hours of February 29th into the early morning hours of March 1st. Snow developed behind the front, producing light to moderate amounts of snowfall along the Carson Range and lower valleys of western Nevada.
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 Feb 29, 3:42 PM PST, 8 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
342 PM PST Sat Feb 29 2020
.SYNOPSIS...
A strong cold front will bring snowfall across the Sierra and
western Nevada valley floors this evening into Sunday morning.
Strong and gusty east winds will develop across the Sierra ridgetops
Sunday evening into Monday. Drier and warmer conditions are on tap
next week.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
Main points/updates:
* Timing of the snow is on track to arrive along the I-80
corridor between 5-8pm spreading from northeast to southwest.
Snowfall amounts are in line with the previous forecast.
* Stronger easterly winds along the Sierra Crest and westward for
Sunday night into Monday.
Tonight through Monday:
A robust cold front is currently moving across northern portions of
Washoe and Lassen counties. Strong and gusty winds are expected
through the evening ahead of this front. Peak winds ahead of this
front in most areas look to gust between 35-45 mph with wind prone
areas of US 395 and US 95 seeing 45-50+ mph gusts. Aviation impacts
and strong crosswinds for high profile vehicles will continue until
frontal passage later this evening.
Strong dynamic forcing associated with this front will create a
narrow band of snowfall that could produce a 2-6 hour period of
accumulating snow. A sudden burst of moderate to heavy snowfall is
possible during the frontal passage. Snow looks to move into northern
Lassen county here in the next few hours with onset along the I-80
corridor between 5-8pm with peak snowfall rates looking to occur
between 9pm-2am. For areas south of US 50, the main impacts look to
occur from 3 am through mid-morning Sunday. Western Nevada valleys
could see up to 2 inches with areas up to 4 inches possible for
surrounding foothills. For the Sierra Nevada, 2-5 inches for the
lower portions of the Tahoe Basin and the Martis Valley with up
to 10 inches possible for the crest (locally higher amounts possible
along the crest in Mono County).
Brisk northeasterly winds are likely behind this front Sunday along
with residual snow showers across portions of southern Lyon/Mineral
counties and Mono County. Highs Sunday will be in the low to mid 30s
for most areas. Strong easterly winds will pick up along the Sierra
crest Sunday night into Monday, with ridgetops and immediate western
slopes seeing gusts possibly up to 100-125 mph. These easterly winds
look to continue through much of the day Monday. -Johnston
.LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday...
Tuesday will feature residual easterly flow over the Sierra crest
with a continued a thermal gradient between the Great Basin and the
Central Valley of California. Temperatures Tuesday are expected to
top out near average with mid 40s to mid 50s for Sierra and lower
valleys, respectively.
Wednesday and Thursday will see ridging over northeast California
and western Nevada for periods of high clouds with temperatures
topping out around 10 degrees above average.
Friday will see increasing south to southwest flow as the upper
ridge shifts to over the Rockies. At first glance, gusts 35-50 mph
are possible with higher gusts in wind-prone areas; however, timing
is slower in the ECMWF with more of its ensemble members showing
Saturday rather than Friday (GFS) for the windiest conditions.
The timing differences for wind also carries over to precipitation
chances as a system arrives from the eastern Pacific. The GFS/EC
ensemble variations range from between later on Friday and Saturday
afternoon for onset of precipitation. As far as precipitation
amounts, they look fairly modest per most ensemble members with the
system possibly elongating/shearing as it moves into the West. In
any case, the system looks cold enough to bring the threat for snow-
related travel issues over the Sierra sometime Saturday so stay
tuned if this concerns you. -Snyder
&&
.AVIATION...
Moderate to severe (locally extreme) turbulence and LLWS have been
observed this afternoon along the eastern Sierra/Sierra Front. A
notable wave cloud set up to the lee of the Carson Range with some
virga coming out of it downwind. Also narrow bands of blowing dust
were noted in the Basin and Range with visibility at LOL down below
one mile at times. Turbulence and LLWS will likely continue into
early this evening ahead of a strong cold front that will be moving
through the region tonight. The front was moving through northern CA
and far northwest NV as of early afternoon and this front is
expected to move south to I-80 late this evening and into Mono-
Mineral Counties overnight and Sunday morning. Overall thinking
remains unchanged with a period intense snow showers accompanying
the front.
* Wind: Widespread gusty SW winds are expected through 02z today for
most airports including RNO, through 08z for MMH. Gusts 30-40 kts
will be common, with blowing dust towards LOL/NFL. Ridge winds
will continue to gust over 70 kts. Expect rough air continuing
tonight with a northerly wind shift as cold front passes 3-6z this
evening. Stiff N/NE winds will continue Sunday making it feel
quite chilly. High winds along Sierra crest expected with rough
air extending west of the crest into Monday.
* Snow: High resolution simulations still show the onset of snow by
late this evening for RNO/CXP and Tahoe airports. Best bet now for
peak snows and MVFR/IFR conditions is 5-9z for RNO, 6-11z for
TRK/TVL/CXP, and probably after 15z/Sun for MMH. A period of light
snow is also likely overnight for airports in W Nev including
NFL/LOL. Due to rapid cooling of the airmass and night-time
frontal passage, runway accumulations and even flash freeze of
melting snow are a good bet. RNO 1-2", TRK/CXP 2-3", TVL 3-4", and
MMH 2-4" are the current projections. Quick speed of the front and
warm ground temperatures are the only limiting factors to offset
decent dynamics with the front.
* Upslope snow showers and mountain obscuration will persist much of
Sunday for the Eastern Sierra from TVL to MMH. Additional light
accumulations are possible with MVFR-IFR periods.
Hohmann
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory until 1 AM PST Sunday NVZ001.
Lake Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for Lake Tahoe
in NVZ002.
Winter Weather Advisory until noon PST Sunday NVZ002.
Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to 1 PM PST Sunday
NVZ001.
Fire Weather Watch until 6 PM PST this evening NVZ459.
Fire Weather Watch until 5 PM PST this afternoon NVZ450.
Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 10 AM PST
Sunday NVZ003.
Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening NVZ003.
Blowing Dust Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening NVZ004.
Lake Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST this evening for Pyramid Lake
in NVZ004.
Fire Weather Watch until 5 PM PST this afternoon NVZ453.
CA...Winter Weather Advisory until 4 AM PST Sunday CAZ071.
Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to 4 PM PST Sunday
CAZ073.
Fire Weather Watch until 6 PM PST this evening below 6500 feet
in CAZ273.
Wind Advisory until 1 AM PST Sunday CAZ073.
Lake Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for Lake Tahoe
in CAZ072.
Winter Weather Advisory until noon PST Sunday CAZ072.
&&
For more information from the National Weather Service visit...
http://weather.gov/renoPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
700 PM PST SAT FEB 29 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0619 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 SW WASHOE CITY 39.31N 119.83W
02/29/2020 M65 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION WSVNV 1.3 SW WASHOE CITY (NV
DOT).
0603 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 3 SW NEW WASHOE CITY 39.27N 119.82W
02/29/2020 M67 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION WASNV 3.2 S WASHOE CITY (NV
DOT).
0537 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 NNE WASHOE CITY 39.34N 119.80W
02/29/2020 M71 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION BCBNV 1.5 N WASHOE CITY (NV
DOT).
0527 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 NNE WASHOE CITY 39.35N 119.79W
02/29/2020 M71 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION GLCNV 2.3 NE WASHOE CITY (NV
DOT).
0515 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 8 N WASHOE CITY 39.43N 119.82W
02/29/2020 M58 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION DW3976 RENO.
1222 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 NNW LAKEVIEW 39.23N 119.81W
02/29/2020 M68 MPH WASHOE NV MESONET
MESONET STATION SRSNV 1.3 NW LAKEVIEW (NV
DOT).
0623 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 S CONWAY SUMMIT 38.04N 119.17W
02/29/2020 M61 MPH MONO CA MESONET
MESONET STATION UNDC1 LUNDY.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
For the higher elevations of western Nevada, snowfall around the Carson Range and the Lake Tahoe Basin was generally around 10 to 11 inches above 7000 feet MSL. This snowfall occurred from the evening of 29 February through the morning of 1 March.
For western Nevada from the evening of 29 February through the morning of 1 March, snowfall in North Reno was generally between 2.5 to 2.7 inches. In Carson City, snowfall of up to 3 inches was reported during the aforementioned time period.
For western Nevada from the evening of 29 February to the morning of 1 March, snowfall along the western foothills of the Reno-Sparks metro area was between 4 to 5 inches. Near Stead, around 4 inches of snowfall was reported. In the Minden and Gardnerville Ranchos area, snowfall totals were between 4.5 and 6 inches.
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, March 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: 925794, 925795, 925796.