A modest Pacific storm brought light snow, rain, and gusty winds to the region.
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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 REV wrote it up.
A modest Pacific storm brought light snow, rain, and gusty winds to the region.
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 Mar 18, 12:06 PM PST, 11 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Reno NV 106 PM PDT Thu Mar 18 2021 .SYNOPSIS... Our next storm will bring mountain snow, light valley rain showers, and gusty winds through Friday. A few light snow showers may linger on Saturday. It will remain cool over the weekend followed by the potential for a quick moving storm Monday. A gradual warming trend looks likely for the middle into the end of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Our current system has brought rain and high elevation snow to portions of northeast CA and the western Sierra slopes as of the time of writing. It will push east this evening, with precipitation reaching the Tahoe Basin between 3 and 6 pm and the Eastern Sierra this evening. The heaviest precipitation rates will be overnight, with snow levels falling as a cold front shifts through the region. This will bring the best shot for precipitation into western Nevada, however, ensembles are still only showing most likely scenarios of a tenth of an inch or less. It is also highly probable (90% chance) to all fall as rain. Snow levels are slow to drop off as the midlevel cold pool trails the surface front. Mountain communities below 6500 feet may not see rain turn to snow until Friday morning, with minimal slushy accumulations. Above 7500 feet, 6-18 inches of heavy, wet snow is expected. If the forecast busts, it will likely be for more snow above 7500 feet, but for less snow below 6500 feet. The moisture plume remains better intact on Friday from Tahoe south, so anticipate more steady snow in this portion of the Sierra. Elsewhere, there will be spotty showers (maybe even a rumble of thunder, ~5-10% chance) in the cold core of the low on Friday, but accumulations will be minimal. Roadway snow accumulation will be limited during the day due to the high mid-March sun angle warming roads. SSW winds will remain breezy tonight with the cold frontal passage, but speeds will be rather run of the mill. Per EPS meteograms and NBM percentiles, most peak gusts should be in the 25-40 mph range for valley locations. Typical travel and aviation impacts, especially in wind prone locations, are likely. Wind to turn NNW Friday with breezy winds through the day. A few light showers could linger on Saturday, with clearing conditions into Sunday. Cooler air will remain in place for the weekend with temps about 5-10 degrees below normal. Ensemble clusters are showing positional differences for a building ridge in the eastern Pacific, with better support to keep this feature off the coast for the early part of next week. This may allow weak systems to drop into the intermountain west from the north. EPS/GEFS aren't showing much in the way of qpf, with only a 20-35% chance for a tenth of an inch for the Sierra/western Nevada. Better chances exist farther east, where the trough tracks. The main implications for the region are a slower warm up for next week and the potential for breezy northwest then northeast winds Monday through Wednesday. Scenarios have plenty of noise present the middle into the end of next week. Cluster and ensemble analysis have actually shown worse agreement than a couple days ago and NBM temperature spread is increasing. General trend, however, is for near to above normal temperatures with no significant storms on the horizon. -Dawn && .AVIATION... Winds to remain gusty with mountain wave turbulence and LLWS possible as cold front moves into the region tonight. Expect peak gusts at 25-40 kts with ridge level winds to 50 kts into Friday afternoon/evening. Rain/snow will lower conditions to MVFR/IFR in the Sierra as early as late this afternoon with freezing levels lowering to 6000-7000 ft MSL overnight. An inch or so of slushy snow is possible for TVL, TRK and MMH. Rain/snow should taper to showers Friday AM for the Tahoe area, with snow persisting around MMH through Friday evening. Across western NV, some rain is possible during the overnight hours along the cold front with MVFR ceilings. The front may stall out over the region from KMMH-KNFL-KWMC on Friday which would keep some showers around western NV. There is a 10% chance of thunderstorms along and east of KNFL-KWMC Friday afternoon. A second wave of energy should bring additional light rain/snow showers to the region on Saturday before high pressure tries to rebuild along the west coast Sunday. Brong && .REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NV...None. CA...None. && For more information from the National Weather Service visit... http://weather.gov/reno
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall in the eastern Tahoe basin ranged from 1 inch at lake level to 6 inches at Mt Rose Ski.
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, March 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: 947302.