A cold front brought wind gusts of 45-55 mph to the Surprise Valley the afternoon-evening of the 15th, with colder than average temperatures (highs mainly in the 50s) prevailing through the 17th. Most communities in northeast CA saw sub-freezing temperatures on the morning of the 17th, with a relatively rare Freeze Warning issued in April due to an early start to gardening, agriculture and…
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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 cold front brought wind gusts of 45-55 mph to the Surprise Valley the afternoon-evening of the 15th, with colder than average temperatures (highs mainly in the 50s) prevailing through the 17th. Most communities in northeast CA saw sub-freezing temperatures on the morning of the 17th, with a relatively rare Freeze Warning issued in April due to an early start to gardening, agriculture and irrigation resulting from the March heat event.
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 15, 12:54 AM PST, 9 hours 6 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
154 AM PDT Wed Apr 15 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
* A strong cold front brings winds and chances for snowfall
tonight into Thursday morning.
* Widespread hard freezes Friday morning.
* Quiet weather and seasonable temperatures for the upcoming
weekend, with active weather possible next week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
* A cold front passage is still on track for later this evening
into Thursday morning. Lastest guidance has not changed the
timing or magnitude of the winds from the prior forecast. Pre-
frontal west winds this afternoon will gust between 35-45 mph
across western NV and northeast CA. However, there is a likely
(50-80%) chance for stronger wind gusts exceeding 55 mph in
northern Washoe County, Pershing County, and the Surprise Valley
this afternoon. With the passage of the front tonight, there
will be a short 2-4 hour duration of strong winds along the
Sierra Front, with gusts between 35-45 mph. For Thursday, the
stronger winds shift south of I-80 toward Mineral and Mono
counties, with northwest winds between 35-45 mph.
* This is not a very wet system; high-resolution guidance shows a
quick shot of light snow and rain with the frontal passage
tonight into Thursday morning. Amounts are meager, with a 15-40%
chance for at least 0.1" inches of snow. Timing is still on
track from prior forecast. Showers will arrive between 5-8 PM
tonight in Lassen County and northern Washoe County. Snow
showers are then possible between 10 PM-7 AM for western NV and
the Tahoe Basin. Finally, snow showers will make their way into
Mineral County by around 7-9 AM Thursday.
* With the passage of the cold front, Thursday high temperatures
will struggle into the low 40s in the Sierra communties and near
50 degrees in western NV. With clearing skies, Friday morning
low temperatures will likely (>90%) fall well into the 20s for
much of northeast CA and western NV. The warmer urban locations,
such as Reno, will be slightly warmer Friday morning.
* We will clear out and warm up on Friday and Saturday. But, we
will keep an active pattern into next week. Ensembles are in
some agreement in showing a larger trough pattern over the
western US from Sunday through the end of the 7-day forecast
period. There are differences in timing and strenght between the
ensembles, but overall it remains active weather-wise. -McKellar
&&
.AVIATION...
* A cold front will pass through tonight, creating some pre-
frontal wind gusts in the afternoon likely up to 35kt. A wind
shift from west to north will likely happen between 08-12Z
Thursday morning for terminals around the Tahoe Basin and Sierra
Front.
* Ridgetop wind gusts from the west to southwest around 45-55 kts
through the afternoon, increasing to 55-65 kts tonight. This
will result in areas of turbulence and periods of LLWS in the
Sierra and western NV terminals after 03Z.
* There will be a 20-30% chance for light snow showers late
tonight through Thursday morning between 05-14Z. Any
accumulations will be minimal, with just a 10-30% chance for up
to 0.1" of snow. -McKellar
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening
NVZ005.
Freeze Watch from Thursday evening through Friday morning NVZ001-
003>005.
Lake Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PDT Thursday
NVZ002.
Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PDT Thursday
NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM PDT this evening
CAZ070.
Freeze Watch from Thursday evening through Friday morning CAZ070-
071.
Lake Wind Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 7 AM PDT Thursday
CAZ072.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mesonet station SSYC1 Surprise Valley measured a wind gust of 52 mph. Also, mesonet station PC634 Cedarville west measured a wind gust of 51 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2026
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: 1321650.