Current Conditions, Weather Forecast, and Imagery

National Weather Service notices:
Hazardous Weather Outlook
Red Flag Warning


July 26 5:27pm: Black Rock playa conditions: monday aftn: thunderstorm rained over 1/2 inch in Gerlach, maybe a little less on the playa


High Rock Canyon is now open to vehicles (is closed February thru early May)

NOTE: A couple erosion spots becoming challenging near Stevens Camp, and there is also one bad spot about 2 miles from southern gate.

Expect temperature to drop at night, and make sure to pack extra coats and blankets if you are traveling through sparse areas.

Beware of carbon monoxide poisoning from running the heat in a standing car for too long, or from propane appliances.

Call Friends for up-to-date information. We are located right off the Playa and are in touch with whats going on out here. 775.557.2900 info@blackrockdesert.org


Playa satellite imagery viewer (2x daily)
Gerlach Monthly Climate Summary 1/1948 thru 4/2007
BM Gerlach: station: temp, wind, barometer, DW1623
Bryan Dongray's Weather at Gerlach
Weather Underground: Gerlach
National Weather Service: Gerlach, Vya, Truckee, soaring
National Weather Service radar: Reno
University of Utah MesoWest: Surface Weather Map
Road Conditions: Nevada (map), CalTrans, Oregon
Black Rock Desert "Clear Sky Chart": link
Satellite: visible, infrared, watervapor, westpac
Earthquake: UNR helicorder, NBE; USGS map
Sunrise/Sunset: pdf
looking south-east from Hualapai Valley (refresh / animate)
cowcam.jpg

GOES VIS Black Rock Desert
wiki    refresh  /  animate

January 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
February 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
March 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
April 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
May 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
June 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 2010:   01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31


sunrise: 5:52 , sunset: 20:15

 Area Forecast Discussion (glossary)
 
 FXUS65 KREV 311046
 AFDREV
 
 AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
 346 AM PDT SAT JUL 31 2010
 
 .SHORT TERM...
 LOW PRESSURE TROF NEAR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST WILL REMAIN IN
 PLACE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS SECONDARY SHORTWAVE DIGS SOUTH NEAR
 THE WASHINGTON COAST ON SUNDAY. THIS PATTERN WILL KEEP DRY AND
 STABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE ERN SIERRA AND WRN NV WITH
 VIRTUALLY NO CLOUD COVER EXPECTED THRU THIS WEEKEND. LOCALLY BREEZY
 CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...THEN SPEEDS
 DECREASE A BIT SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WEAKENS.
 
 FOR AREA LAKES...TAHOE HAS A SLIGHTLY BETTER POTENTIAL FOR
 REACHING LAKE WIND CRITERIA AS DEPARTING UPPER JET WILL LEAD TO
 SOME OF THE GUSTY WINDS CURRENTLY AT RIDGE LEVEL TO MIX DOWN TO
 LAKE LEVEL BY EARLY AFTERNOON. FOR W-CNTRL NV INCLUDING PYRAMID
 LAKE...WINDS YESTERDAY CAME IN WELL SHORT OF CRITERIA AND LITTLE
 CHANGE IS EXPECTED TODAY...SO THE ADVISORY FOR THIS AREA WAS
 CANCELLED.
 
 MONDAY SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE DRY AND STABLE...BUT THE LATEST NAM
 DATA PRESENTS A POSSIBLE EXCEPTION FOR THE FAR NORTH ZONES. THIS
 MODEL INDICATES A MORE DEFINED SPLIT IN THE TROF OVER THE NWRN
 US WITH THE SOUTH PORTION OF THE SPLIT DIGGING TO NRN CA. THE
 RESULT OF THIS SCENARIO IS A SMALL DEFORMATION ZONE WITH SOME
 INSTBY OVER FAR NWRN NV AND THE SURPRISE VALLEY. SINCE THE REST
 OF THE GUIDANCE DATA KEEPS THE DEFORMATION ZONE FARTHER
 NORTH...NO MENTION OF CONVECTION IS PLANNED AT THIS TIME. 
 
 MAX TEMPS WILL REMAIN NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS THRU MONDAY WITH MOST
 LOWER ELEVATIONS REACHING THE LOWER-MID 90S. MJD
 
 .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
 GENERAL TROUGH PATTERN ALONG THE WEST COAST AS ANOMALOUSLY HIGH 
 HEIGHTS PERSIST UPSTREAM UNDER ALASKA RIDGE. GFS MEAN SHOWS THIS 
 ANOMALY BREAKING DOWN BY END OF PERIOD WITH A MORE ZONAL FLOW BY 
 NEXT WEEKEND. THIS PATTERN TREND IS SUPPORTED WELL BY OPERATIONAL 
 RUNS AND WILL BE FOLLOWED DURING THIS FORECAST PERIOD. HEIGHTS RISE 
 EVER SO SLIGHTLY TUE-WED IN ADVANCE OF WEAK TROUGH THU-FRI. THUS 
 TEMPERATURES SHOULD RISE TO ABOUT 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AT MID WEEK 
 AND THEN LOWER SLIGHTLY BY FRI. OVERALL NOT A BIG CHANGE IN THE 
 SENSIBLE WEATHER PATTERN. IT WILL REMAIN DRY WITH VERY FEW CLOUDS. 
 THE BEST DAY FOR ANY MOISTURE RETURN AND POTENTIAL CUMULUS 
 DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE IN ADVANCE OF TROUGH ACROSS SOUTHERN AREAS ON 
 THU. HOHMANN
 
 .AVIATION...
 DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL KEEP VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND 
 ACROSS THE SIERRA AND WESTERN NEVADA. GUSTY AFTERNOON/EVENING WINDS 
 WILL AFFECT THE TERMINALS EACH DAY WITH PEAK GUSTS 25-30 KTS. HOHMANN
 
 .FIRE WEATHER...
 VERY DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION WITH 
 LOW AFTERNOON HUMIDITY LEVELS (SINGLE DIGITS TO LOWER TEENS) AND 
 POOR NIGHTTIME RECOVERIES. SOME MID SLOPES WILL FAIL TO RECOVER TO 
 20%. THE BIGGEST FORECAST DILEMMA IS DETERMINING WINDS. WINDS WERE 
 VERY MARGINAL FRI AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH MOST PRONOUNCED RED FLAG 
 CONDITIONS ALONG THE SIERRA FRONT AND MORE LOCALIZED CONDITIONS IN 
 ALL OTHER ZONES. TODAY DOES NOT LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT WITH A COUPLE OF 
 THINGS WORKING AGAINST CRITICAL WIND GUSTS. SHORTWAVE EMBEDDED IN 
 UPPER JET IS WORKING ACROSS AREA THIS MORNING AND WILL EXIT THIS 
 AFTERNOON. SECOND...FRONT HAS ALREADY WORKED ACROSS THE BASIN AND 
 RANGE WITH ENTIRE AREA EMBEDDED IN SIMILAR AIRMASS. SO THERMAL 
 GRADIENT WILL BE LESS TODAY THAN WAS SEEN ON FRI. PLAN TO SCALE BACK 
 RED FLAG WARNING BY REMOVING FIRE ZONE 453 AND DETAILING MOST 
 AFFECTED AREAS IN OTHER FIRE WEATHER ZONES. WINDS DECREASE FURTHER 
 SUN-MON AS THERMAL GRADIENTS RELAX FURTHER AND WINDS ALOFT DECREASE.
 HOHMANN
 
 
 .REV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 NV...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS 
      EVENING NVZ450-458.
 
      LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS 
      EVENING NVZ002.
 
 CA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS 
      EVENING CAZ270-278.
 
      LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM PDT THIS 
      EVENING CAZ072.