A pair of cold fronts brought strong westerly winds on February 13 with winds turning more northerly Saturday. This double shot of winter weather impacted larger area lakes with rough, choppy conditions as well as very turbulent conditions for aviation interests, and strong crosswinds for high profile vehicles traveling along area roadways.
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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 pair of cold fronts brought strong westerly winds on February 13 with winds turning more northerly Saturday. This double shot of winter weather impacted larger area lakes with rough, choppy conditions as well as very turbulent conditions for aviation interests, and strong crosswinds for high profile vehicles traveling along area roadways. Some snow showers developed across the area east of the eastern Sierra into western Nevada south of Highway 50. But snow accumulations were generally spotty, as well as light to moderate, with limited travel impacts except for brief reductions in visibility in heavier showers. Area temperatures plunged behind the quickly moving cold fronts with daytime highs for warmer lower valley locations struggling to rise above freezing. The colder, brisk northerly flow brought frigid wind chill temperatures overnight February 14 that dipped into the single digits for most valley locations. Higher Sierra elevations saw dangerous wind chills plunging into the -20 to -30 degree through the evening.
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 13, 2:28 PM PST, 10 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
228 PM PST Mon Feb 13 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
Milder temperatures will preclude the the arrival of the next winter
storm system moving into the region tonight into Monday. This system
will produce strong, chilly northerly winds along with chances for
light snowfall through Tuesday. Wintry temperatures return Tuesday
and Wednesday that moderate gradually through the later half of
next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION…
Today was accentuated by sunny skies and rather nice, near normal
daytime temperatures. But don’t be fooled with the rather
pleasant start to this day since winter will return with a blast.
A low pressure system sweeping into the Pacific Northwest today
will continue to drive southeast and south across northeast CA and
NV though Tuesday. A couple cold fronts complement an upper
trough that is digging south into western NV through Tuesday.
These colder intruders will sweep backdoor-like through the
region overnight tonight and again Tuesday. These fronts will
bring a double shot of colder air into the Great Basin as brisk
northerly winds pull colder Canadian air south into the region.
Although a good chance remains for some snow showers across the
region, brisk northerly winds and plunging temperatures will bring
the essential impacts across the region
* WINDS: Upper forcing aided from a 150kt plus jet core, and
enhanced by an energetic left exit region, will dive south into
CA this evening through Tuesday. The resultant tightened
pressure and thermal gradients along the cold boundary will
sweep across northeast CA this evening and then across western
NV overnight into Tuesday. Winds gusting 20-30 mph ahead of the
front will start from the west and sharply increase from the
northwest gusting 30-45 mph this evening. The sharp change in
wind direction and speed will bring rather abrupt impacts to
both ground and air travel region-wide, as well as choppy
conditions on larger area lakes. This evening into Tuesday,
higher elevation and more wind prone areas could see higher
gusts and greater impacts, especially to high profile vehicles
transiting along I-80, Hwy-50, US-395, and US-95.
* TEMPS: The initial shot of cold air will come from the passage
of a cold front over northeast CA that continues to drive south
and southeast into western NV overnight into Tuesday morning. A
second backdoor-like cold front will provide that second colder
burst on Tuesday. Temperatures will plunge at least 20 degrees
across the region as colder Canadian air filters south across
the Sierra and east into the Great Basin. Daytime highs in even
the warmer valleys will struggle to remain in the 30s Tuesday
and Wednesday with teens and 20s in the mountains. Overnight
lows will plummet into the teens and single digit lows with
Sierra colder valleys dipping below zero. To ensure “Jack Frost"
has your attention, the higher winds coupled with the cold
temperatures will easily bring wind chills into the frigid zone
of low single digits to below zero. These colder temperatures
could bring increased risks of exposure to more vulnerable
populations and pets that are not acclimated for these colder
conditions, especially during the overnight hours Tuesday and
Wednesday.
* SNOW: With limited moisture available, this system will not
produce much snow, but travel impacts are still possible. Snow
showers overnight will be mainly confined to areas in the
Eastern Sierra and south of Highway 50 in western Nevada, with
up to 1 inch possible. After a brief lull in the action Tuesday
morning, convective heating and modest moisture will produce
widespread snow showers across the Sierra and western NV. These
showers may bring quick busts of snowfall lasting only several
minutes at any one location. Accumulations across the region
will be hit or miss with only a low chance (10-15%) of anything
more that a half inch in western Nevada. The best chance for
snow accumulation will be in the Sierra from Tahoe south where
up to 3 inches may fall.
A sharp upper-level ridge will amplify over the western US through
Wednesday bringing quieter conditions to the region. Blended
guidance shows a modest temperature recovery to just short of
seasonal averages through the later half of next week into the
weekend. Clear skies and lighter winds wind will be the sensible
indicators of the upper ridges increased influence over the
region. Increasing mid to high level cloudiness Thursday will
signal the shift of the ridge axis east and an upswing of
temperatures as a southwest upper flow increases over the region.
A cut-off low will spin off an upper wave pushing into the Pacific
Northwest later Thursday evening and Friday. This weak system
will dance south off-shore the California coast and only give a
low-end chance (<15%) of showers to northeast CA and the Sierra
Crest Friday. There is little confidence that snow accumulations
will be anything more than an inch and current ensemble guidance
supports that notion.
-Amanda
&&
.AVIATION...
Cold fronts are expected sweep through the region overnight through
Tuesday. These systems will bring gusty winds today through Tuesday.
Light snow showers forming this evening aft 03-06Z will bring brief
periods of reduced VIS/CIG and MVFR-IFR conditions to northeast CA
(KSVE) and western NV terminals (KRNO-KCXP-KMEV) north of US-50.
Snow showers will then spread south of US-50 and then bring brief
periods of MVFR-IFR conditions to eastern Sierra terminals (KMMH)
aft 12-15Z Tuesday. Showers will diminish quickly after 00Z
Wednesday.
As westerly FL100 winds increase through this evening, LLWS and
mountain wave turbulence will continue over Sierra terminals and
downwind over western NV terminals overnight into Tuesday. Sierra
ridgetops could see gusts 70+ knots through the evening. Terminals
across western NV valleys will see gusts up to 25-30 kts with higher
gusts in and near showers. Winds gusts will gradually diminish to
less than 20kts after 09Z Tuesday.
-Amanda
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory until 10 AM PST Tuesday NVZ005.
Lake Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for Lake Tahoe
in NVZ002.
Wind Advisory from 10 PM this evening to 4 AM PST Wednesday
NVZ001.
Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST Tuesday NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory until 10 AM PST Tuesday CAZ070.
Lake Wind Advisory until 10 PM PST this evening for Lake Tahoe
in CAZ072.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station (MTH01) Mammoth Mountain located 0.9 mi S of the Mammoth Mountain Ski Summit, CA, and mesonet station (DDSUM) located at Conway Summit reported a maximum wind gusts of 127 mph and 73 mph respectively.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2023
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: 1086267.