The National Weather Service in Reno issued a tornado warning at 1:37 p.m. Thursday for parts of Storey, Washoe and Lyon counties as a severe storm moved across western Nevada. The warning was set to last until 2:15 p.m. and covered communities in the storm’s path, including Wadsworth and Fernley-Tiger Field Airport.
The storm was near Derby Dam at the time of the warning, about 16 miles northeast of Virginia City, and was moving east at 15 mph. Radar showed rotation, and forecasters said the storm could produce a tornado, quarter-size hail and hail up to 1 inch in diameter, along with flying debris, roof and window damage, vehicle damage and tree damage.
The tornado warning landed less than 10 minutes after the weather service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the same general area at 1:32 p.m. That earlier warning said the storm, then near Derby Dam and about 16 miles east of Reno, could bring golf ball-size hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph. It was scheduled to remain in effect until 2 p.m. for Storey County, South central Washoe County and Northern Lyon County.
At the same time, the region was already dealing with water-related alerts. The weather service issued a flash flood warning for Storey County and South-central Washoe County until 4:15 p.m. after radar showed thunderstorms producing heavy rain. Between 0.8 and 1.5 inches of rain had already fallen in the warned area, and the service said flash flooding was ongoing or expected to begin shortly.
That flood warning included Reno, Sparks, Lockwood, Hidden Valley, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Mustang and Patrick. A separate flood advisory for Storey and southern Washoe counties, including the greater Reno area, was set to last until 3:45 p.m. because of excessive rainfall, with minor flooding possible in low-lying and poorly drained areas.
The overlapping warnings made Thursday afternoon a fast-moving weather threat for western Nevada. Severe storms were bringing tornado, hail, strong wind and flooding risks across the region, and the immediate question was how much of the warned corridor between Derby Dam and Fernley would actually see damage before the storm weakened or moved on.
