A powerful low pressure system moving into the Pacific Northwest brought strong westerly winds to the Sierra and downslope windstorm conditions to the Owens Valley.
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 episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
A powerful low pressure system moving into the Pacific Northwest brought strong westerly winds to the Sierra and downslope windstorm conditions to 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 Feb 24, 9:00 PM PST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
900 PM PST SAT FEB 24 2007
.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM NEAR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL BRING
INCREASING WINDS TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA AND THE WESTERN MOJAVE
DESERT SUNDAY. THE SYSTEM WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INLAND ACROSS THE
REGION AND BRING A CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN TUESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY...MAINLY TO AREAS NORTH OF LAS VEGAS.
&&
.UPDATE...SHORTWAVE ROTATING THROUGH TROUGH COMPLEX OFF THE WEST
COAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA ON SUNDAY. MAIN
ENERGY FROM THIS SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BE FOCUSED TO THE NORTH OF OUR
AREA...ONLY ISOLD SHOWERS EXPECTED FOR SUNDAY. MAIN CONCERN HOWEVER
CONTINUES TO BE WINDS. STRONG JET DROPPING SOUTH WITH WRF CONTINUING
TO SHOW STRONG WINDS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SIERRA CREST AND
POSSIBILITY CONTINUES FOR DOWNSLOPE WINDS INTO THE OWENS VALLEY ON
SUNDAY. AT THE SAME TIME...NAM CONTINUES TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR
ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS ACROSS THE SAN BERNARDINO DESERT TOO AND WILL
DISCUSS WITH THE MID SHIFT FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION IN THE MORNING
PACKAGE. OVERALL THE SHORT TERM FORECAST ON TRACK TONIGHT. WILL
UPDATE ZONES TO REMOVE EVENING WORDING AND TO FINE TUNE SKY
COVER...ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN ZONES.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION...330 PM PST SHORT TERM...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY
SHOWED A VIGOROUS LOBE OF ENERGY DIVING INTO THE BASE OF THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST LOW. A STRONG UPSTREAM JET...140-150 KTS...WILL PUSH
ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND INTO NORTHWEST NEVADA AFTER 12Z
SUNDAY. THIS DEEP FAST WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW WILL BRING HIGH WINDS
TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AND A HIGH WIND
WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS DETERMINING IF A
DOWNSLOPE WIND EVENT WILL DEVELOP AND IMPACT THE OWENS VALLEY.
CURRENT WRF/NAM CROSS-SECTIONS INDICATE THE HIGH WINDS WILL REMAIN
NEAR THE CREST WITH 100 KNOTS AT RIDGETOP LEVEL BY 18Z SUNDAY.
HOWEVER...THE LOCAL WRFNMM MODEL FORECAST SOUNDING SHOWS AN
INVERSION OVER BISHOP EXTENDING FROM ABOUT 10K-16K FEET AFTER 12Z
SUNDAY. THIS COULD SERVE TO CREATE A CRITICAL LAYER ABOVE THE
RIDGETOP AND DEFLECT MOMENTUM DOWNWARD. ALSO A STRONG CROSS BARRIER
SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT...15-16 MB...IS FORECAST AS A LEE SIDE
SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS. WILL LEAVE A HIGH WIND WATCH IN EFFECT FOR THE
OWENS VALLEY FOR NOW AND LET LATER SHIFTS ANALYZE THE WRFARW AND
MONITOR HOW WELL DOWNSLOPE CONDITIONS DEVELOP NORTH OF THE AREA THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. A MEAN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OFF
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THROUGH MONDAY BEFORE ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVE
ENERGY EVENTUALLY DEEPENS THE TROUGH AND SWINGS IT INLAND ACROSS THE
AREA TUESDAY AND BRINGS THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TO SCATTERED
SHOWERS TO THE REGION. THIS WILL BRING INCREASING WIND AND COOLER
TEMPERATURES BUT LIMITED MOISTURE AND A TRACK WHICH JUST BRUSHES THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA SHOULD RESULT IN ANOTHER SYSTEM WITH
SKIMPY PRECIP AMOUNTS.
.LONG TERM...THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AT DEPICTING GENERALLY DRY NORTHWEST FLOW
WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY FOLLOWED BY A RIDGE DEVELOPING OVER THE
WEST GOING INTO NEXT WEEKEND. COOL TEMPERATURES FOLLOWING THE
TUESDAY SYSTEM WILL BE SLOW TO REBOUND BUT SHOULD GRADUALLY CLIMB
BACK TO OR A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL BY THE WEEKEND.
&&
.AVIATION...FOR KLAS: WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN VARIABLE AT OR
BELOW 6 KNOTS THE REST OF THE DAY AND INTO THE NIGHT. INCREASING
HIGH CLOUDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT AND SOUTHERLY
WINDS GENERALLY AROUND 10 KNOTS WILL DEVELOP LATE SUNDAY MORNING AND
INTO THE AFTERNOON.
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA: VFR CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN OVERNIGHT THOUGH INCREASING
CIRRUS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION. MOUNTAIN WAVE AND TURBULENCE
CAN BE EXPECTED EARLY SUNDAY IN THE LEE OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA WITH
RIDGETOP WINDS NEAR BISHOP APPROACHING 100 KNOTS AFTER 12Z SUNDAY
AND CONTINUING THROUGH LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST
SURFACE WINDS AROUND 10-20 KNOTS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REST OF THE
REGION SUNDAY EXCEPT AROUND BARSTOW-DAGGETT WHERE SPEEDS OF
20-30 KTS CAN BE EXPECTED. &&
.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NV...NONE.
.AZ...NONE.
.CA...HIGH WIND WARNING 4 AM-7 PM PST SUNDAY ZONE 519. HIGH
WIND WATCH 7 AM-7 PM PST SUNDAY FOR ZONE 520.
&&
JENSEN/ADAIR
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGASThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several mesonet stations in the Owens Valley reported winds in excess of 50 knots between 1 AM and 8 PM on the 25th. The peak wind was 80 mph 3 miles SSW of Independence at 1 PM.
Two mesonet stations near Independence, CA recorded wind gusts in excess of 60 knots between 1 PM and 8 PM on the 25th. The peak wind recorded was 87 mph 5 miles WSW of Independence at 6:00 PM PST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2007
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: 59277, 10539.