The first of two quick-hitting systems brought widespread wind and snow to the silver state.
Every event with a place to put it; 25 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.
The first of two quick-hitting systems brought widespread wind and snow to the silver state.
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 13, 2:18 PM PST, 2 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Elko NV 218 PM PST Mon Dec 13 2021 .SYNOPSIS...An active weather pattern is on tap for NV as a series of winter system pass through the region over the next several days. The first and the more potent of these system is already impacting NV bringing wide spread wind and snow. The next system will arrive mid week bringing further light snowfall. Another system may bring further light snow for the upcoming weekend. In addition all these system will bring very cold air across the silver state. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Thursday. Currently a potent winter storm is starting to impact the silver state. The ensembles continue to agree that this is at least a 90th percentile storm which will make it strong indeed. This storm is already causing snow in northwestern NV that will gradually spread to the south and east. The cold front will be the focus of the heaviest snow as it slowly drifts across NV on Tuesday. The ensembles do show that enhanced snow bands are also possible along the cold front which can lead to isolated areas seeing brief very heavy snowfall. This system will lead to 2 to 6 inches of snowfall in northern valleys and 3 to 8 inches for central NV valleys. The mountains like always are the true winners with northern mountains seeing up to a foot, central NV ranges and also the Rubies will see even higher amount with 1 to 3 feet possible. The other major feature with this system is the strong winds that will occur ahead of the cold front. This will see the gusts gradually ramp of from the 30 mph up to 60 mph before the front passes through. These winds will then quickly diminish following the passage of the cold front. It is important to note that the intensity of the winds and snow will quickly increase with an increase in elevation. The snow and the wind will make travel difficult if not impossible as this system transits NV. Expect icy road conditions which will become worse with increase in elevations. The winds will blow away unsecured object and can topple over high profile vehicles. The silver lining with this system is it wont linger for to long across NV and will leave the region Tuesday evening. This will see the snow and winds fully die down and cease by Wednesday morning. There are some changes with regards to the Warnings and Advisory associated with this system. These changes are mainly to reflect that the winds will start before the arrival of winter weather. So for this, the Wind Advisory area has been expanded to include northern Nye, southern Lander and Eureka, and southwestern Elko counties. Specifically for SW Elko county the Wind Advisory will take over the early morning of Tuesday pushing the onset Winter Weather Advisory back to later morning hours of Tuesday. This Wind Advisory will then merge with and be replaced by either the Winter Storm Warning or Winter Weather Advisories once the snow arrives. However the quite weather of Wednesday morning will not last as another system is hot on the heels of this system and will impact NV by Wednesday afternoon. This will bring light snowfall to the silver state for Wednesday and Thursday. This is looking to cause another inch of snowfall for most valleys. The exceptions is the higher elevation valleys in northern NV which can see and additional 2 to 3 inches. The mountains in northern NV will half of a foot or so of further snowfall. This system will also not stick around for long and will in large be over by Thursday evening. One final feature that both of these system will bring to NV is very cold air. Afternoon highs are going to be dipping to below freezing. Overnight lows will see temperatures plummet down to the single digits or even into the negatives. .LONG TERM...Thursday night through next Monday Thursday night...Snow showers taper off for most areas as the system mentioned in the short term falls apart or splits and pushes east of the state. Friday...Low level clouds persist under the northerly flow aloft, with general clearing by Friday evening. 500mb ridge axis builds over the area from the west early on Saturday, providing the best day for sunshine and quiet conditions; however, expect mid and high cloud cover to increase by Saturday afternoon across northern Nevada as a system that impacted the Pacific NW digs east- southeast towards northern Nevada. This may provide some light showers in the mountains of northern Nevada Saturday night or on Sunday as the weakening system clips far northern Nevada; however, confidence remains low with a decent probability of snow remaining in ID. Regardless of what occurs, no significant impacts are expected at this point. By next Monday, 500mb shortwave begins to build northward over the state in response to a 500mb trof deepening well off the US West Coast. As for temperatures, expect high temperatures to be in the 20s to mid 30s. Friday appears to be the coldest of all the days, with most areas staying below freezing. We could see our first day of the normal winter time inversion on Monday, meaning the lower valleys stay below freezing, while the higher valleys and mtns areas climb above freezing. As for low temperatures, the best opportunity to see widespread single digits below zero is Saturday morning due to the best chances for clear skies...although more ensembles are indicating better chances for mid or high level cloud cover. Otherwise, singe digits to teens are expected. Given the fresh snow cover, and approaching the longest night of the year, any clearing results in temperatures quickly dropping below zero on any night. && .AVIATION...Gusty winds with turbulent conditions aloft are the main story through this evening, and through some part of the overnight. Gusts in the 40s to near 50kts are likely at KELY late tonight with other sites seeing gust in 30s to low 40kts. Otherwise ceilings and visibilities dropped late tonight at KWMC with rain turning to snow. This band pushes east early tomorrow morning impacting KBAM just near sunrise, and KEKO after sunrise to mid-morning. A short period LIFR of conditions are likely at three sites. The winds quickly subside once the main precip band impacts the sites. As for KTPH and KELY, the main band of precip hits mid- morning, with MVFR to IFR expected thereafter. Strong and gusty winds should continue through mid-morning before quickly subsiding tomorrow afternoon. Bottom line...very poor period of flying weather area wide through tomorrow. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 10 PM PST Tuesday for Northern Elko County-Northern Lander County and Northern Eureka County. Winter Weather Advisory until 4 AM PST Tuesday for Humboldt County. Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM Tuesday to 4 AM PST Wednesday for White Pine County. Wind Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 4 AM PST Tuesday for Northeastern Nye County-Northwestern Nye County-Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range-South Central Elko County-Southern Lander County and Southern Eureka County-Southwest Elko County- White Pine County. Winter Storm Warning from 4 AM Tuesday to 4 AM PST Wednesday for White Pine County. Winter Storm Warning from 4 AM to 10 PM PST Tuesday for Northeastern Nye County-Northwestern Nye County-Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range-Southern Lander County and Southern Eureka County. Winter Weather Advisory from 4 AM to 10 PM PST Tuesday for Northeastern Nye County-Northwestern Nye County-South Central Elko County-Southern Lander County and Southern Eureka County- Southwest Elko County. && 99/85/85
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 high wind, 12 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Station (MPVN2) Martin Creek, Elevation 6438 feet.
Station (DBLN2) Double H, Elevation 6379 feet.
Twenty inches fell at (BKLN2) Buckskin Lower Snotel, Elevation 6929 feet.
Eight inches fell at (LMCN2) Lamance Creek Snotel, Elevation 6394 feet.
Ten inches fell at (DSPN2) Disaster Peak Snotel, Elevation 6529 feet.
Thirteen inches fell at (GRPN2) Granite Peak Snotel, Elevation 8501 feet.
Station (KELY) Ely Airport Asos, Elevation 6244 feet.
Station (KWMC) Winnemucca Airport Asos, Elevation 4303 feet.
Station (WLSNV) 2.3 E Wells, Elevation 5845 feet.
Station (WLRNV) 2.3 E Wells, Elevation 5845 feet.
Station (TMBN2) Timber Mountain, Elevation 9000 feet.
Station (EKRNV) 4.1 sw Elko, Elevation 5045 feet.
Station (CMP26) Warm Springs Summit, Elevation 7549 feet.
Eight inches fell at (DPKN2) Diamond Peak Snotel, Elevation 8016 feet.
Station (DNEP7) 2.3 W Baker, Elevation 6035 feet.
Station (UP990) 10.4 E Wells, Elevation 6121 feet.
Eight inches fell at (VCSN2) Vacarro Spring Snotel, Elevation 7867 feet.
Eight inches fell at (POLN2) Pole Canyon Snotel, Elevation 7759 feet.
Nine inches fell at (COLN2) Corral Canyon Snotel, Elevation 8444 feet.
Eleven inches fell at (BCSN2) Big Creek Summit Snotel, Elevation 8684 feet.
Eight inches fell at (BIRN2) Bird Creek Snotel, Elevation 7536 feet.
Station (DNEP8) 4.3 E Baker, Elevation 5185 feet.
Station (UP994) 3.1 SE West Wendover, Elevation 4408 feet.
Nine inches fell at (BERN2) Bear Creek Snotel, Elevation 8040 feet.
Nine inches fell at (SILN2) Silver Creek Snotel, Elevation 8213 feet.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 2021
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: 989320, 989316, 989328, 989331, 989329, 989330, 989318, 989323, 989321, 989322, 989315, 989319, 989317, 989333, 989326, 989325, 989334, 989336, 989337, 989332, 989335, 989324, 989327, 989338, 989339.