1 heavy snow, 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 Dec 29, 9:15 PM PST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 915 PM PST MON DEC 29 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM SLOWLY MOVING SOUTH ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL SPREAD A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERT TONIGHT AND INTO TUESDAY. THE SYSTEM WILL THEN MOVE EAST ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO ON WEDNESDAY WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR DRIER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA. HOWEVER ANOTHER STORM IS FORECAST INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA ON FRIDAY FOR A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW ONCE AGAIN. && .UPDATE...00Z DESERT ROCK SOUNDING INDICATED PLENTY OF MOISTURE ABOVE 8 KFT...BUT STILL DRY NEAR THE SURFACE. EVENTUALLY ATMOSPHERE WILL MOISTEN FROM THE TOP DOWN TONIGHT. TIME HEIGHTS SECTIONS DEPICT BEST UPWARD FORCING BETWEEN 10 PM AND 4 AM TUE. RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS RETURNS INCREASING IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY ACROSS SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA WITH THE AREA SHIFTING NORTHEAST. HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM ANYTHING REACHING THE GROUND YET. NOT LOOKING FOR A BIG QPF EVENT WITH A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS EXPECTED. 00Z ETA/GFS IN GOOD AGREEMENT CLOSING OFF UPPER LOW OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST EARLY TUESDAY AND DIGGING LOW SOUTH WELL OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST BY LATE AFTERNOON. BOTH ETA/GFS NOW PLACE LOW FURTHER OFFSHORE WHICH BEST MOISTURE/DYNAMICS AROUND THE LOW WHICH IS LESS CONDUCIVE FOR SHOWERS AROUND HERE TUESDAY. IT APPEARS THERE WILL STILL BE SOME SHOWERS AROUND TOMORROW MORNING WITH LESS THREAT BY LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. WILL LET NEXT SHIFT MAKE FINAL DETERMINATION ON POPS TUESDAY BASED ON RADAR/SATELLITE PRIOR TO THEIR MORNING ISSUANCE. FORECAST FINE...NO UPDATE. .PREV DISCUSSION...305 PM PST...UPPER LOW COMPLEX OFF THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST IS CONTINUING TO SLOWLY DROP SOUTH. FIRST BAND OF MOISTURE ONLY BROUGHT A FEW LIGHT SHOWERS TO THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE SIERRA...WHILE CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS OCCURRED OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA DURING THE DAY. THE NEXT MAIN BAND OF MOISTURE MOVING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AND SHOULD BE SHIFTING INTO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA OVERNIGHT. DYNAMICS ALSO BEGIN TO SHIFT INTO THE CWA OVERNIGHT. BEST PRECIPITATION WILL BE ALONG THE SIERRA AND OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...THUS LIKELY POPS THESE AREAS WITH ONLY CHANCE POPS REMAINDER OF THE CWA THROUGH TUESDAY. AS LOW SHIFTS SOUTH BOTH 12Z ETA/18Z GFS GENERALLY PLACE LOW OFF BAJA SPUR BY 06Z WEDNESDAY WITH GFS SLIGHTLY FURTHER SOUTH. THIS PLACES MUCH OF CWA UNDER DEFORMATION AXIS AND ALTHOUGH GOOD LOWER LEVEL MOISTURE... DYNAMICS WEAK. THUS WILL TREND A MUCH DRIER FORECAST INTO WEDNESDAY. AS LOW SHIFTS EAST ZONAL FLOW THEN TAKES OVER INTO THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT. RIPPLES IN FLOW WILL ONCE AGAIN BRING CHC POPS TO MUCH OF THE AREA WITH FIRST RIPPLE LOOKED FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING FOR INCREASING POPS ONCE AGAIN. WARM AIR ADVECTION BUMPED HIGHER ELEVATION TEMPS UP MORE THAN EARLIER THOUGHT. THIS LEADS TO FORECAST TEMP PROBLEM NEXT FEW DAYS UNDER CLOUD COVER/PRECIP. SYNOPTIC PATTERN NOT CONDUCIVE TO WINDS...THUS VALLEY MIXING WILL BE QUESTIONABLE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. OVERALL WILL COOL MTNS WHILE SLOWLY WARM VALLEYS. TRENDED A LITTLE COOLER THAN MOS IS SHOWING HOWEVER. && .LONG TERM...MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE NOW INDICATING A MORE ZONAL FLOW WITHIN BROAD LONG WAVE PATTERN FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. AXIS OF 120+ KT JET CORE FORECAST TO BE OVER NEVADA FROM LATE THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIP WILL BE FRIDAY WHEN PLUME OF PACIFIC MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO BE DRAWN UP AHEAD OF ADVANCING BAROCLINIC ZONE AND INTERACT WITH LARGE SCALE ASCENT. PERIODS OF MID-HI CLOUD COVER WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AS WEAK IMPULSES EMBEDDED IN BROAD TROUGH SWEEP ACROSS THE WEST BUT DRYING AND MARGINAL SYNOPTIC FORCING SHOULD KEEP CHANCES FOR SIGNIFICANT PRECIP MINIMAL UNTIL AT LEAST TUESDAY. && .AVIATION...MODELS NOW SUGGESTING MOST SIGNIFICANT PRECIP WILL REMAIN WEST OF OUR AREA. WILL INCLUDE MENTION OF INTERMITTENT LIGHT RAIN IN TAF BETWEEN 07 UTC AND 12 UTC. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .NV...NONE. .AZ...NONE. .CA...SNOW ADVISORY FOR ZONE 26 ABOVE 6500 FEET VALID FOR TONIGHT. && PIERCE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 536 AM PST MON DEC 29 2003 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ027>029-NVZ014>022-301300- DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK-ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY- LAKE HAVASU AND FORT MOJAVE-LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA- LAS VEGAS VALLEY-LINCOLN COUNTY-NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY- NORTHWEST DESERTS-NORTHWEST PLATEAU-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DESERTS- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY-UPPER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY-SHEEP RANGE- SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY-SPRING MOUNTAINS-RED ROCK CANYON- WESTERN CLARK AND SOUTHERN NYE COUNTY- 536 AM PST (636 AM MST) MON DEC 29 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE FORECAST AREA BEGINNING TODAY AND CONTINUING INTO TUESDAY. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE CONFINED MAINLY TO THE NORTHERN REGIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY AND THEN SPREAD TO THE SOUTHERN REGIONS TONIGHT. LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED WITH LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO SLIDE SOUTHWARD ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST ON TUESDAY BEFORE SHIFTING EASTWARD ON WEDNESDAY. A CHANCE FOR LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINE FOR MOST AREAS TUESDAY BUT SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS THEN FORECAST TO MOVE TO THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. CAZ026-301300- OWENS VALLEY AND ADJACENT EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES- 536 AM PST MON DEC 29 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY. ...A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT. 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE SIERRA WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. WINDY CONDITIONS NEAR THE CREST MAY ALSO CAUSE LOWERED VISIBILITIES FROM BLOWING SNOW CREATING HAZARDOUS WINTER CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL BRING LITTLE ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ON TUESDAY. ANOTHER STORM WILL APPROACH THE AREA THURSDAY BRINGING RAIN AND SNOW TO THE AREA BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Moderate to heavy snow fell for about 2 hours in the Las Vegas valley. One inch of snow was recorded at McCarran International Airport with up to 4 inches falling in the surrounding suburbs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 2003
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: 5330635.