Another strong Pacific low pressure system brought another round of high winds to the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Owens Valley.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Another strong Pacific low pressure system brought another round of high winds to the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Owens Valley.
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 26, 10:28 AM PST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1028 AM PST TUE DEC 26 2006 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM APPROACHING THE COAST TODAY WILL SPREAD CLOUDS ACROSS THE REGION WITH SNOW BECOMING LIKELY IN THE SIERRA. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ALONG WITH LOCALLY GUSTY WINDS. HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA WILL LIKELY SEE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES AND STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS ARE ON TAP FOR THURSDAY BEHIND THE STORM SYSTEM. && .UPDATE...NO UPDATED FORECAST WILL BE SENT. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SIERRA STILL IN EFFECT. STORM NOW IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA IS A BIT SLOWER IN ITS SOUTHWARD MOVEMENT THAN ANTICIPATED. HEAVY SNOWFALL IN SIERRA WILL START A BIT LATTER THAN ANTICIPATED. THE PW AND QPF AMOUNTS ARE ALSO LESS THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECAST. BELIEVE THE 12 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE STILL AND IN CONJUNCTION WITH 50 MPH OR GREATER WINDS AT THE PEAKS THE WARNING LOOKS REASONABLE. OTHERWISE NO CHANGES EXPECTED FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST REASONING. && .PREV DISCUSSION...310 AM PST TUE DEC 26 2006 .SHORT TERM...SOMEWHAT MOIST FLOW AHEAD OF APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH WILL SPREAD CLOUDS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES. SNOW WILL BECOME LIKELY BY THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE SIERRA WITH SEVERAL INCHES ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE ABOVE 7500 FEET. WHILE RIDGETOP WINDS COULD BE PRETTY STRONG OVER THE SIERRA TODAY...PRECIPITATION DRAG SHOULD HELP LIMIT SPEEDS AND DO NOT EXPECT A DOWNSLOPE WIND EVENT. MODELS PRETTY CONSISTENT WITH BRINGING THE TROUGH INTO CA TONIGHT AND TO THE UT/NV BORDER WEDNESDAY. BETTER DYNAMICS WITH A CONTINUED MOIST FLOW WILL LEAD TO HEAVY SNOW OVER THE SIERRA TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AND COMBINED WITH GUSTY WINDS WILL LEAD TO WINTER STORM WARNING CONDITIONS. UPGRADED THE WATCH TO A WINTER STORM WARNING. OTHERWISE LOOKING AT A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS FOR NEARLY THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA BY EARLY WEDNESDAY AS THE TROUGH MOVES EAST INTO THE AREA. LOCALLY GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY AND WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MAY WELL MEET ADVISORY CRITERIA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. BASED ON MODEL QPF...PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS OUTSIDE OF THE SIERRA DO NOT LOOK TO BE SIGNIFICANT. TROUGH BECOMES A CLOSED LOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS IT MOVES TO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL LINGER OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA WHILE WINDS SHIFT AROUND TO A NORTHERLY DIRECTION AND BECOME GUSTY. DRY AIR MASS MOVES IN THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT WITH NORTHERLY GRADIENT INCREASING. CURRENT MODEL TRENDS INDICATE PROBABLE ADVISORY CRITERIA WINDS THESE PERIODS AND WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED FOR HEADLINES LATER SHIFTS. .LONG TERM...RIDGING WILL BRING MOSTLY SUNNY AND DRY CONDITIONS TO THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ON THE COOL SIDE BOTH DAYS ESPECIALLY IN THE VALLEYS DUE TO THE NORTHERLY WINDS ON FRIDAY AND LACK OF MIXING SATURDAY. THE WINDS ON FRIDAY WILL BE STRONGEST DURING THE MORNING HOURS BEFORE SURFACE GRADIENTS WEAKEN. THE RIDGE IS FORECAST TO FLATTEN ON SUNDAY AS A WEAK PACIFIC STORM APPROACHES THE WEST COAST. MODELS BRING THIS SYSTEM ACROSS THE CWA MONDAY POSSIBLY PRODUCING A FEW SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN ZONE MOUNTAINS. IT IS LIMITED IN MOISTURE AND ONLY LIGHT QPF IS EXPECTED WHERE SHOWERS FORM. && .AVIATION...TAFS AND TWEBS ADEQUATELY DESCRIBE EXPECTED WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR AREA TERMINALS. SEE TAFS FOR KLAS...KVGT...KDRA... BIH...KDAG...KEED FOR DETAILS. AVIATION DISCUSSION NOT UPDATED FOR AMENDED TAFS. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .NV...NONE. .AZ...NONE. .CA...WINTER STORM WARNING CA519 TUESDAY 6 PM TO WEDNESDAY NOON. JACQUES/HARRISON/SALMEN HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 508 AM PST TUE DEC 26 2006 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-270415- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY-NORTHWEST DESERTS- LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA-EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES- OWENS VALLEY-WHITE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY- DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK-WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT- EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT-MORONGO BASIN-CADIZ BASIN- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY-UPPER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY- ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY-LINCOLN COUNTY- NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY-WESTERN CLARK AND SOUTHERN NYE COUNTY- SHEEP RANGE-SPRING MOUNTAINS-LAS VEGAS VALLEY- SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY- 508 AM PST TUE DEC 26 2006 /608 AM MST TUE DEC 26 2006/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL BECOME LIKELY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON WITH HEAVY SNOW DEVELOPING THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY FOR THE SIERRA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY HEAVY SNOW IS STILL POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY MORNING OVER THE SIERRA WHILE THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION WILL SEE A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. COOLER TEMPERATURES AND STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE STORM SYSTEM THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Occurred at Aspendell.
A gust to 60 mph was measured 4 miles NW of Independence.
Occurred at Bishop.
Occurred at Aspendell.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2006
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: 4787, 4797, 4806, 4814.