Lockheed C-130 Hercules (16-7108)

Lockheed KC-130J .... 167108
USMC ... Call: "Raider One Two"
Departing to PHNL (Honolulu, HI)

The first of two USMC Hercs taxies on to Runway 35R as a cold front moves over the airport and changes what had been a steady overnight rain into the first moments of a steady all-day snowfall. Only a few minutes later, "Raider One Three" taxied up to this same position in a much, much heavier snowfall and about 60 minutes after the second Hercules departed the visibility at RNO dropped below minimums and seven inbound paxbirds had to divert to other airports. As a blizzard developed over the Truckee Meadows, nine other scheduled commercial pax arrivals were briefly ground-stopped at their point of origin and then all of those flights were completely cancelled when it became apparent that the snow storm was going to continue to cause below-minimums visibility for a few hours. No more commercial aircraft arrivals meant that in a short while there weren't going to be any commercial aircraft departures either so I went home when the falling snow became extremely heavy and visibility became so poor that I could not see the control tower or even the airport plows at my end of Runway 35R.