High Wind in Nevada, March 1, 2002

Name: High Wind in Nevada, March 1, 2002
Start: 2002-03-01T00:30
End: 2002-03-01T12:00
Location: Nevada

March 1, 2002 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Feb 28, 9:35 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 9:35 PM PST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
935 PM PST THU FEB 28 2002

SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT INTO FRIDAY AND
USHER IN WINDY AND MUCH COOLER WEATHER. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES ON
FRIDAY WILL PLUMMET...ON AVERAGE...15 DEGREES FROM READINGS ON
THURSDAY. STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WILL PREVAIL OVER MUCH OF THE
REGION ON SATURDAY...AND THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL COOLING.
TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY WILL BE ABOUT TEN DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
EXPECT LESS WIND ON SUNDAY ALONG WITH SOME WARMING AS HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS OVER THE AREA.

DISCUSSION...MESOWEST DATA THAT INCORPORATES ALL TYPES OF SURFACE
OBSERVING STATIONS DEPICTS STRONG COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY PRESENTLY
OVER SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY. GUSTY NORTH WINDS OCCURRING AT TONOPAH
AND BISHOP WITH VISIBILITIES RESTRICTED AT BISHOP IN BLOWING DUST.
EXPECT COLD FRONT WILL COME THROUGH LAS VEGAS VALLEY BETWEEN 11 PM
AND MIDNIGHT. DEEP LAYER SUBSIDENCE DOES NOT REACH SOUTHERN NEVADA
UNTIL EARLY TOMORROW MORNING. I EXPECT THE PERIOD OF STRONGEST WINDS
TO OCCUR TOMORROW MORNING THROUGH MID-AFTERNOON. WIND ADVISORY HAS
ALREADY BEEN ISSUED FOR THE COLORADO RIVER STARTING LATER TONIGHT
AND CONTINUING THROUGHOUT THE DAY. ON SATURDAY...AVN STILL
ADVERTISING MORE ENERGY DIGGING SOUTH INTO ARIZONA REINFORCING COLD
AIR ADVECTION/SURFACE GRADIENT. ALTHOUGH NEW AVN MOS GUIDANCE NOT AS
GUNG-HO ON THE WINDS FOR SATURDAY.

UPDATES THIS EVENING WILL CENTER AROUND THE AMOUNT OF CLOUDINESS AND
POSSIBLE ISOLATED SNOW SHOWER THAT COULD OCCUR OVER NORTHERN LINCOLN
COUNTY. ELY IS REPORTING SOME LIGHT SNOW PRESENTLY. WILL CARRY THE
CLOUDINESS INTO FAR NORTHWEST ARIZONA AS SHORTWAVE DIGS INTO
SOUTHERN UTAH TONIGHT. PIERCE

.LAS...A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LAKE MEAD NATIONAL
RECREATIONAL AREA/CO RIVER VALLEY FOR LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.
REFER TO THE ADVISORY STATEMENT (WWUS45) FOR DETAILS.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, C Clark

When: March 1, 12:30 AM PST to 12:00 PM PST
Where: C Clark forecast zone
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph)
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 36.215, -115.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A dry cold front pushed through the Las Vegas valley with winds gusting to over 50 mph. A Las Vegas man was killed when strong winds blew his motorcycle into a center concrete median. The motorcycle then struck a light pole throwing the man from his bike killing him instantly. Strong winds over the southern part of the valley blew down power lines which started a fire inside a horse corral, killing three horses. Around town, several trees were snapped and power lines were downed along with a few homes reporting significant roof damage.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
High Wind, C Clark	2002-03-01	36	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nevada in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, March 2002

Sources

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: 5284514.