A dry downburst from a collapsing thunderstorm caused severe wind, blowing dust and reduced visibility at one of the ASOS's.
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The episode as NWS LKN wrote it up.
A dry downburst from a collapsing thunderstorm caused severe wind, blowing dust and reduced visibility at one of the ASOS's.
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 Jun 16, 2:04 PM PST, 5 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Elko NV 304 PM PDT Wed Jun 16 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Very warm or hot conditions continue through Saturday with some thunderstorms possible on Friday. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Thursday. Overall, cooler today (more 90s) as a slightly different airmass advected (from the northwest) into northern Nevada. This boundary stalled and fell apart over central NV, and is now returning northward as a dry/moist line; therefore, south of this line, very hot temperatures continue, and heat advisory remains in effect for northern Nye county. Surging moisture is quite evident on MESAT as cirrus clouds increase across southern and central Nevada. This moisture will continue to pushed into norther Nevada later today and tomorrow, along with some very weak disturbance aloft. Therefore expect more widespread afternoon buildups/virga tomorrow afternoon as the atmosphere becomes more unstable given the higher moisture content. Precipitable water value should climb above .50 in eastern NV tomorrow, with some reaching .75 on Friday. The best instability arrives on Friday as an area of lower PV1.5 heights lifts north into NW Nevada. Now, this isn’t the best setup for thunderstorms (lapse rates aloft are not as high as we would like) but enough there to warrant some fire weather concerns. Current thunder probabilities are ok for two days out. Of course, any thunderstorms that do develop on Friday will be dry (maybe get a .01 or .02 if lucky) with good potential for dry microbursts. If nothing else, more afternoon cloud cover anticipated tomorrow, and especially Friday which keeps high temperatures down a little, except for far western areas which experience a temperature increase due to less cloud cover and rising 500mb heights. Therefore, heat advisories go into effect on Friday for northern Lander and Humboldt counties where all valleys locations hit or exceed 100F. With the additional moisture, expect overnights low tonight and Thursday night to increase, with many areas struggling to get below 60F. As for winds, breezy conditions today (less than yesterday) with similar conditions in northern Nevada tomorrow. Nothing out of the ordinary for June though. .LONG TERM...Friday night through next Wednesday While temperatures remain well above normal throughout the long term period, Saturday should be the last day of the record hot temperatures for a bit, with many valleys in the upper 90's through the lower 100's. Heat Advisories will be in place for Humboldt, northern Lander and northern Eureka Counties as well as the Wendover area. Upper level ridging remains in place in the West throughout the Long Term bringing dry weather as there does not appear at this time to be any moisture advecting into the area. The southern end of a dry cold front will move through northeastern Nevada Saturday night, bringing a bit cooler temps and a breezy northwest flow into the area through Sunday. Highs will "cool" into the upper 80's through mid 90's, except for northern Nye County, which will not see the effects of the cold front and will remain in the upper 90's through the lower 100's. Low pressure off of the California coast starts to press in on Monday and Tuesday and the resulting southwest flow will warm temperatures back into the mid 90's for many valleys and a breezy afternoon looks to be in store on Tuesday. The Low could press enough eastward into Nevada on Wednesday to lower heights a little and bring a few degrees of cooling, though confidence is not high at this time. Saturday morning lows remain elevated in the mid 50's to mid 60's (except for lower 70's near Wendover). As the cold front moves through Saturday night, Sunday morning lows will drop into the 50's and by Monday morning, some upper 40's could return in the coldest valleys. && .AVIATION...VFR conditions expected at all terminals for the next 24 hours along with a broken high level cloud deck. The extremely hot temperatures will lead to very high density altitudes at all airports through Saturday. && .FIRE WEATHER...Elevated conditions continue today and somewhat tomorrow as winds remain breezy/gusty, although they are less than yesterday, and temperatures are running 5 to 6 degrees cooler across northern Nevada. Moisture is already pushing northward which brings some buildups and maybe some virga tomorrow for central Nevada. However, the best instability is expected on Friday. Still, not all that impressive for instability but enough moisture in the atmosphere to generate dry thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening hours. Therefore, issued a fire weather watch for mainly eastern NV on Friday. Given the hot temperatures at the surface, microbursts potential is high with any thunderstorm, or even just virga. Otherwise, hot and dry conditions in western areas on Friday, with one more very warm/hot day areawide on Saturday. A nice drop in temperatures expected on Sunday. && .LKN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Fire Weather Watch from Friday morning through Friday evening for Central Elko County-Central Nevada-Toiyabe-Eastern Elko County-Northern Nye County-Mojave-White Pine and Northeast Nye Counties. Heat Advisory from 11 AM Friday to 8 PM PDT Saturday for Humboldt County-Northern Lander County and Northern Eureka County. Heat Advisory from 11 AM to 8 PM PDT Saturday for Southeastern Elko County. Heat Advisory until 8 PM PDT Friday for Northeastern Nye County- Northwestern Nye County. && 85/90/90/85
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A dry downburst caused reduced visibility of 5 miles and dust at Tonopah Airport (KTPH), Elevation 5426 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, June 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: 954774.