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.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
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 14, 2:13 AM PST, 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
213 AM PST Tue Feb 14 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
A winter storm will move into the region today, producing strong,
chilly northerly winds along with chances for light snowfall.
Wintry temperatures will stick around Wednesday, before gradually
becoming more moderate by the end of the week. Conditions will
stay seasonable and dry through the weekend and the early part of
next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
The blast of cold air has finally arrived! With the passage of a
cold front Monday afternoon, cold air will continue to dominate the
region through mid week...but more on that later.
Today there'll be an upper-level low dropping down over eastern
Nevada/Utah with the left exit region of a jet streak positioned
over western NV. SBCAPE over western NV seems to top out around 200
J/kg this afternoon, so there will be just enough instability for
some snow showers this afternoon. Light snow showers will start this
morning after 4 AM south of US-50 including Mono County. Those
showers will dissipate before 11 AM and more showers will develop
this afternoon mainly over the Sierra and NE CA. A few showers are
expected to move across western NV in the afternoon, with up to 1"
below 7000'. Above 7000' there's a 50-60% chance of at least 2" and
30-40% chance of at least 3". Mono County above 8000' may see totals
up to 4".
Winds today will be breezy out of the N/NW, gusting to 30-40 mph in
western Nevada valleys and 60+ mph along the Sierra crest. Surface
winds will start to taper off rather quickly overnight into
Wednesday as the pressure gradient and 700 MB winds decrease.
Now, about those temperatures... Fortunately, highs today will be
the coldest of the week, with a steady warming trend through the
weekend. Lows this morning will be similar to yesterday's, 20's for
western NV valleys and teens in the Sierra. Today will be fairly
cloudy yet well-mixed, so western NV could see temps peak in the mid-
upper 30's this afternoon. Radiational cooling will keep lows on the
colder side until they finally start to rebound Friday morning.
After today's system passes, a narrow upper-level ridge will make
its way over Nevada Wednesday, blocking any precipitation through
the rest of this week. There is an outside chance that a few snow
showers could reach the Sierra crest Thursday night and Friday
(about a 25% chance), as a few model members are farther east with
the track of an upper low dropping southward near the west coast.
This upcoming weekend and the first half of next week looks to be
dry with near average temperatures.
-Justin
&&
.AVIATION...
* A cold low pressure system will continue to impact the area
through Wednesday. Gusty north winds and snow showers today will
gradually diminish tonight and Wednesday, although ridge winds
will be slower to decrease on Wednesday. So turbulence is
likely, especially for smaller aircraft, as ridge winds gust to
60+ kts through 18Z Wednesday. Wind gusts for area runways will
be around 20-25 kts, although there may be 2-4 hour periods
where stronger wind bursts could occur due to mixing and shower
activity late morning through early this evening.
* Snowfall will be hit or miss for the most part with brief light
accumulations at area terminals. Snow shower coverage will be
greatest south of Hwy 50 this morning and along the Sierra from
KTVL-KMMH in the afternoon where some terrain obscurement and
lowering CIGS/VSBY are more likely. These areas have the best
chance at accumulating snowfall, with 1-2" possible.
* Generally drier with light winds for late week. A weak system will
move down the coast and could bring a few light snow showers as
far east as the Sierra by Friday, but a lot of the potential
tracks keep it west of our area.
Hohmann
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory until 10 AM PST this morning NVZ005.
Lake Wind Advisory from 4 PM this afternoon to 10 AM PST
Wednesday for Lake Tahoe in NVZ002.
Wind Advisory until 4 AM PST Wednesday NVZ001.
Wind Advisory until 7 PM PST this evening NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory until 10 AM PST this morning CAZ070.
Lake Wind Advisory from 4 PM this afternoon to 10 AM PST
Wednesday for Lake Tahoe in CAZ072.
Wind Advisory until 10 AM PST this morning CAZ073.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station (SLIDE-DRI), located 1.0 mi ESE of the Mount Rose Summit area, and mesonet station (WASNV-NVDOT), located 3.2 mi S of New Washoe City, NV, reported maximum wind gusts of 94 mph and 63 mph respectively.
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, 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: 1086268.