High Wind in Western Nevada Basin and Range, Nevada

AWOS located 2.0 mi NNW (Hawthorne Municipal Airport) of Hawthorne, NV, and mesonet station (WLKNV) located 6.1 mi NW of Hawthorne, NV, and reported peak wind gusts of 76, and 60 mph, respectively.

A late winter AR driven storm brought stronger winds especially for mountain tops, heavy Sierra snowfall, and valley rain or snow showers through the forecast period. Travel impacts were also expected for regional roadways which included Sierra mountain passes to include the I-80 corridor and along US-50 east of US-95 as rain changed to snow after sunset. Strong southwesterly winds were ongoing across the region with gusts exceeding 100 mph along Sierra ridgelines and widespread gusts to 50 mph in lower western Nevada valleys. Mono County was expected to see the snow last up to 15 hours with the heaviest snow area generally directed along the Sierra for about 9-12 hours, resulting in a solid swath of 1-2 feet along the crest, with some higher Mono County peaks projected to receive 30-36 inches of new snow. Through this challenging forecast period, brief whiteout conditions along with blowing/drifting snow were expected across the region.