Another strong and colder early spring storm system dropped into northern California, bringing stronger winds across higher Sierra ridge tops, as well as a quick burst of moderate snow showers into western NV, northeast CA, and the Tahoe basin.
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.
Another strong and colder early spring storm system dropped into northern California, bringing stronger winds across higher Sierra ridge tops, as well as a quick burst of moderate snow showers into western NV, northeast CA, and the Tahoe basin.
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 Apr 17, 1:08 AM PST, 5 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
208 AM PDT Mon Apr 17 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
A winter system moves in late tonight bringing light right and snow
to the region along with much cooler temperatures. Winds will be
gusty today through Wednesday, with the strongest winds this
afternoon. Warmer and drier conditions return for the end of the
week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today may feel a little cooler than yesterday due to a weak cold
front passing through this morning. High temperatures are expected
to drop by about 10 degrees today, with highs in the low 60's across
western NV. Winds will stay strong today out of the west/southwest
ahead of our next system coming late Monday night/early Tuesday
morning. Most of western NV will see gusts of 45-55 mph, with
wind prone locations gusting as high as 65 mph in the evening.
Sierra ridges could see gusts of 80+ mph, which taper off by
Tuesday morning.
This upcoming system looks to be fairly weak with lots of dry air in
the mid levels, but will still be able to drop a decent amount of
snow in the Sierra. The line of snow will first start to move in
this afternoon across northeast CA and continue southeast into
western NV early Tuesday morning before completely moving out of the
region by 8 AM PDT Tuesday. The bulk of the snowfall will be along
the northern Sierra crest and the Tahoe Basin, with little to no
accumulation across western NV. Snow amounts haven't changed much since
the last update, with the Sierra crest looking at 8-10" on the
west side of the Tahoe Basin, 1-6" below 7000', and 5-10" above
6000' in northeast CA. Western NV may see some sprinkles of rain
overnight into Tuesday, although a couple snowflakes may be
possible.
Temperatures continue to drop through Tuesday before slowly
bouncing back up throughout the second half of the upcoming week.
Wednesday and Thursday morning's low temperatures are also worth
noting, as below freezing temperatures return once again, even for
lower valleys.
Looking further into this week, an additional shortwave is expected
to move through Wednesday, but this time very little precip is
anticipated. Long range guidance has a few snow showers in northern
NV, with very minimal accumulation. After Wednesday, ensembles and
long range deterministic models are in indicating a ridge building
in to close the week off. Temperatures are expected to jump back up
as well, all the way up to near normal by the end of the week.
-Justin
&&
.AVIATION...
FL100 winds continue to pick up through the day today with peak
speeds around 50kts expected this afternoon and evening in the
lee of the Sierra as a cold front approaches the region. Surface
gusts of of 25-35 kts are expected at local terminals this
afternoon with periods of LLWS possible along the cold front.
Moderate to severe turbulence is also possible in the lee of the
Sierra today.
Deteriorating SIG/VIS is expected in the central and northern
Sierra this evening as snow moves into the Tahoe basin around 03z.
Accumulating snow of 1-3" is possible at KTRK/KTVL tonight with a
few light rain/snow showers possible for KRNO/KCXP/KMEV.
Lingering light snow showers will remain possible on Tuesday and
potentially into Wednesday in the northern Sierra. A warming and
drying trend is expected through the rest of the work week. -Zach
&&
.AVALANCHE...
A fairly weak and quick hitting cold front is set to move through
late Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning. Winds will stay
breezy out of the southwest Monday night into Tuesday, with ridges
above 8000' gusting 80+ mph. The first flakes will fall in NE CA,
shifting across the northern Sierra and Tahoe Basin overnight
into Tuesday. The showers taper off over Alpine county, leaving Mono
county above 8000' with less than 1". In the Tahoe Basin, snow
amounts are ranging from 2-6" below 8000', 8-10" on the western
side above 8000', and 5-10" above 6000' in NE CA. Liquid totals
will also be light, ranging from 0.4-0.6" on the western side of
Tahoe to 0.3-0.5" in NE CA. Snow ratios will fall between
14:1-18:1 throughout the event. Snowfall rates generally around
0.5"/hr but as high as 1"/hr during the heaviest snowfall early
Tuesday morning.
-Justin
&&
.HYDROLOGY...
Cooler conditions today through Wednesday will slow snowmelt, but
we will be adding some precipitation to the snowpack, which could
keep flows elevated. Warmer conditions are anticipated once again
for the end of the work week into next week, but it's TBD on how
impacts from this will evolve. -Dawn
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 AM PDT Tuesday
NVZ003-005.
Lake Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 AM PDT Tuesday
for Lake Tahoe in NVZ002.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 11 AM PDT Tuesday
NVZ001.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 11 PM PDT this evening
NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 AM PDT Tuesday
CAZ070-071.
Lake Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 AM PDT Tuesday
for Lake Tahoe in CAZ072.
Wind Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 11 AM PDT Tuesday
CAZ073.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The public located at the Mount Rose Ski Base, a trained spotter(WA-12) located 1.0 mi NNW of Incline Village, and the public located at the Diamond Peak Ski resort reported 24-hour snowfall totals of 8.0 inches, 7.0 inches, and 5.0 inches respectively.
Mesonet station (SLIDE) located 0.9 mi ESE of the Mount Rose Summit (DRI) reported a maximum wind gust of 105 mph.
Mesonet station (DBYNV) located 8.0 mi WSW of Wadsworth, NV, at I-80 and Derby Dam reported a peak wind gust of 87 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 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: 1099166, 1099357, 1099358.