A cold front brought wind gusts of 45-55 mph to the northwest and far western NV for the afternoon-evening of the 15th, with colder than average temperatures (highs mainly in the 50s) prevailing through the 17th. Most communities in western NV 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,…
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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 northwest and far western NV for the afternoon-evening of the 15th, with colder than average temperatures (highs mainly in the 50s) prevailing through the 17th. Most communities in western NV 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, 1:13 PM PST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Reno NV
213 PM PDT Wed Apr 15 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
* Gusty winds and light showers will accompany a cold frontal
passage today into Thursday.
* Sub-freezing temperatures will pose impacts to agriculture and
irrigation Thursday night into Friday morning.
* Unsettled weather returns Sunday into early next week with renewed
chances of gusty winds and showers.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
A compact upper low and attendant cold frontal passage will promote
gusty winds and light showers during the remainder of today into
Thursday morning. Winds will be strongest from Lassen County into
far NW Nevada where SW/W gusts of 40-50 mph will be common this
afternoon and evening. Elsewhere, winds will be comparatively weaker
but still in the 30-40 mph range.
Rain and snow shower chances increase upon the arrival of the
surface cold front tonight into early Thursday morning with best
odds of 50-80% near the Oregon border and across northern Pershing
County. Any rain or snow will lean on the lighter side, but roads
may become slick in areas across far N Washoe County and E Pershing
County where there is a low (10-20%) chance of 1" of snowfall by
Thursday morning. Showers should taper around or a little after
sunrise Thursday once the cold front has departed.
Post-frontal temperatures will be noticeably cooler for Thursday
afternoon as daytime highs shed 10-15 degrees from today. More
notably, further cooling and clearing skies will result in a very
cold Friday morning as temperatures fall into the teens and
twenties. Be sure to bundle up and stay warm if heading outdoors
Friday AM, and protect vegetation that benefited from the
historically warm March. Our weather pattern remains progressive as
another upper low renews the prospect of gusty winds and showers
from Sunday through the middle of next week. Confidence is low on
the finer detail given that these springtime lows tend to be tricky
to forecast.
-Salas
&&
.AVIATION...
LLWS and mountain wave turbulence will remain at the forefront of
weather concerns today amid increased winds aloft and at the
surface. SW/W surface gusts of 20-30 kts beneath FL100 winds of 40-
50 kts will maintain LLWS and mountain wave turbulence impacts into
the evening However, greatest impacts should occur between 06Z and
12Z when surface winds weaken but FL100 winds hold steady -- if not
increase a bit. This is also the timeframe when a cold front moves
through Sierra and Sierra terminals, compounding any LLWS impacts.
A band of low clouds and perhaps a few light showers (10-30% chance)
are possible (10-30% chance) will increase the potential for
mountain obscuration and reduced CIGS/VIS across Tahoe and SIerra
Front terminals tonight into early Thursday.
-Salas
&&
.REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
NV...Wind Advisory until 11 PM PDT this evening NVZ005.
Freeze Watch from Thursday evening through Friday morning NVZ001-
003>005.
Lake Wind Advisory until 7 AM PDT Thursday NVZ002.
Wind Advisory until 7 AM PDT Thursday NVZ004.
CA...Wind Advisory until 11 PM PDT this evening CAZ070.
Freeze Watch from Thursday evening through Friday morning CAZ070-
071.
Lake Wind Advisory until 7 AM PDT Thursday CAZ072.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
RAWS CATN2 Catnip Mountain measured a wind gust of 47 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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: 1321651.