1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 15, 2:53 AM PST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.
MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
353 AM PDT MON APR 15 2002
SYNOPSIS...
AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG AND COOL STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING VERY STRONG
WINDS AND MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES TO THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN
GREAT BASIN TODAY. ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING ADDITIONAL
COOLING AND MORE WIND TO THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES
WILL STILL BE ABOVE NORMAL AT MOST PLACES TODAY...BUT LOWER TO NEAR
NORMAL BY MIDWEEK.
DISCUSSION...
THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IN THE SHORT TERM WILL BE WIND. SPEEDS HAD
DROPPED SOMEWHAT AT MOST PLACES DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS...HOWEVER
THIS WILL BE SHORT LIVED. ALREADY WINDS WERE GUSTING BETWEEN 40 AND
50 KNOTS AT DESERT ROCK. EXPECT SPEEDS TO RETURN TO WIND ADVISORY
CRITERIA ACROSS THE NRN ZONES...WITH HIGH WINDS LIKELY OVER MUCH OF
THE SRN PORTION OF THE CWA. THUS THE HIGH WIND WATCH WAS UPGRADED TO
A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THIS AREA. THE EXCEPTIONS WERE THE LAKE
MEAD/CO RIVER VALLEY ZONES AND CA ZONE 28...WHERE WIDESPREAD HIGH
WINDS ARE NOT EXPECTED. WINDS WILL SUBSIDE FAIRLY QUICKLY TONIGHT AS
THE GRADIENT RELAXES AND BECOMES NW-SE ORIENTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE
CWA.
ANOTHER CONCERN WAS CONVECTION. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MANAGED TO
FORM NEAR THE SIERRA CREST AND OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF ZONE 27
OVERNIGHT. THIS CONVECTION SEEMED TO BE DRIVEN BY THE PROXIMITY OF
THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE JET. THIS ACTIVITY IS ANTICIPATED
TO SHIFT INTO ZONES 13 THRU 15 TODAY AS THE JET LIFTS TOWARDS THE
ENE. THERE WILL ALSO BE A THREAT OF SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS OVER
ZONE 1 THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. HAVE INDICATED THE HIGHEST POPS
OVER ZONE 15 WHERE MODELS INDICATED THE GREATEST INSTABILITY DEVELOPING.
THE NEXT TROUGH WILL BEGIN AFFECTING THE AREA AS EARLY AS TUE
AFTERNOON AS WINDS START RESPONDING TO PRESSURE FALLS TO OUR N.
THE THERMAL AND PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN FURTHER ON WED...
RESULTING IN WINDY CONDITIONS FOR MOST ZONES. HAVE REMOVED THE
THREAT OF PRECIP FROM THE NRN ZONES WED AS LATEST MODELS INDICATED
THAT THE RISK WILL REMAIN N OF OUR CWA.
EXTENDED...A BROAD TROUGH WILL PREVAIL OVER THE AREA THRU MUCH OF
THE PERIOD. THE QUESTION CENTERED ON HOW QUICKLY THIS FEATURE WILL
EXIT THE REGION. AT THIS TIME...HAVE FOLLOWED THE IDEA OF AN UPPER
LOW REMAINING OVER THE GREAT BASIN THRU AT LEAST SAT. AT ANY RATE...
TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL DURING THE 4
THRU 7-DAY TIME FRAME. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO BE CONFINED TO THE
NRN ZONES AND BE DIURNAL IN CHARACTER.
.LAS...HIGH WIND WARNINGS OR WIND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE
MOJAVE DESERT AND SRN GREAT BASIN TODAY. REFER TO THE LATEST
STATEMENT...WWUS45...FOR DETAILS.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A very strong low pressure system moved across Nevada bringing high winds over much of the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2002
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5293481.