Bitter winter cold is being blamed for two and perhaps a third death in northeast Nevada according to police reports from the region.
Elko County Under sheriff Clair Morris told the Reno Gazette Journal the cold snap is blamed for two deaths over the holiday weekend. One was a 62-year-old homeless woman who died while camping by the Humboldt River. She was found Monday The other was man who slipped and fell while walking home, was unable to get up and died of exposure, Morris said. He was found Tuesday. Their names are not being released because of next-of-kin have not been notified.
Also found dead after the New Year’s holiday was McGill resident Floyd Munson age 75.
Much of northeastern Nevada has not seen the temperature move above freezing since Christmas Eve and it not expected to reach an above-freezing temperature for the next week, National Weather Service forecaster Clair Ketchum said.
“We have a ridge of high pressure over us now. It’s going to keep us stagnant and it’s going to make it difficult to get this cold air out of the valley,” Ketchum said.
Cold air sinks so when the warmer air is forced over it there’s no place for the cold air to go.
“So we’re just going to kind of stay put, as far as temperature is concerned,” Ketchum said.
“You can camp at 15 below zero, but you better have the proper gear,” Morris said.
Other than that, the problems have been frozen pipes and cars not starting, Morris said.
Spokesmen for the Winnemucca Police Department, which dipped to minus 14 overnight, the Eureka County Sheriff’s Office, which set a record low 16 below zero on Tuesday morning, and the White Pine County Sheriff’s Office, where Ely dropped to 9 below over night, reported problems with icy roads, broken pipes and cars not starting.
Elko set a record Tuesday when its high temperature reached only 7 degrees, eight degree colder than the previous coldest high temperature.
“We really crushed that record,” Ketchum said. The coldest high temperature for today was 13 and Elko is forecast only to reach 6 degrees.
