The first strong cold front of the season brought strong southwest winds ahead of it, and strong north winds behind it.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
The first strong cold front of the season brought strong southwest winds ahead of it, and strong north winds behind 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 Oct 20, 3:30 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
430 PM PDT SAT OCT 20 2007
CORRECTION TO SYNOPSIS
.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM WILL SHIFT INTO UTAH TONIGHT RESULTING
IN STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES TONIGHT AND
SUNDAY. AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO
BUILD OVER THE REGION NEXT WEEK...RESULTING IN DRY WEATHER AND A
WARMING TREND. VALLEY LOCATIONS MAY SEE LESS WARMING THAN THE
MOUNTAINS DUE TO COLD AIR GETTING TRAPPED IN THE VALLEYS.
&&
.SHORT TERM...A STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN
NEVADA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST INTO UTAH TONIGHT. AN
ASSOCIATED STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION
OVERNIGHT AND SHOULD BE THROUGH THE ENTIRE CWA BY MIDNIGHT. WINDS
AHEAD OF THE FRONT HAVE BEEN CREATING BLOWING DUST PROBLEMS IN
WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT NEAR BARSTOW AND ALSO AT THE MOUTH OF THE
OWENS VALLEY AND INTO THE DEATH VALLEY AREA. MODELS ARE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT QUICKLY DRIVING THE FRONT SOUTH THIS EVENING SO THE
SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL SWITCH TO THE NORTH. THE STRENGTH OF THE WINDS
ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT WILL CAUSE DRIVING DIFFICULTY AND AREAS
OF BLOWING DUST THAT MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY
NEAR ANY DRY LAKE BEDS. SEE RNONPWVEF FOR DETAILS ON ONGOING WIND
ADVISORIES. THE STRONGEST WINDS ON SUNDAY WILL BE ALONG THE LAKES
AND ALSO PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY IN ARIZONA AND EASTERN
SAN BERNARDINO IN CALIFORNIA. NORTH WINDS THERE COULD FLIRT WITH
HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA FOR BOTH SUSTAINED AND GUSTS BUT AT THIS
TIME FEEL THAT IT WILL REMAIN JUST BELOW. TEMPERATURES WILL BE
NOTICEABLY COOLER ON SUNDAY BEHIND THE FRONT AND THIS WILL CONTINUE
TO BE THE CASE MONDAY AS WINDS REMAIN NORTHERLY BUT MUCH LIGHTER.
.LONG TERM...THE 12Z MEDIUM RANGE MODELS DEPARTED VERY LITTLE FROM
PREVIOUS RUNS AND CONTINUE TO SHOW A HIGHLY AMPLIFIED RIDGE
DEVELOPING OVER THE ENTIRE WEST TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY FOLLOWED BY
A CLOSED LOW DIGGING OFF THE WEST COAST. VERY LITTLE CHANGE WAS
NEEDED TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST FOR THIS THIS DRY AND WARM PATTERN.
THE ONLY PROBLEM WILL BE TIMING THE INCOMING LOW BUT CURRENT
INDICATIONS ARE IT WILL OCCUR BEYOND NEXT SATURDAY.
&&
.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...STRONG NORTH WINDS BEHIND A PASSING COLD
FRONT SHOULD BLOW THROUGH KLAS AROUND 03Z THIS EVENING. ONCE THE
WINDS GO NORTH...THEY WILL STAY THAT WAY THROUGH SUNDAY. GUSTS UP TO
45 KNOTS COULD OCCUR IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE FRONT BUT THE PREVAILING
WINDS WILL BE 25 TO 30 KNOTS MOST OF THE NIGHT THEN DECREASE INTO
THE 15-25 KNOT RANGE SUNDAY.
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING ACROSS THE
ENTIRE REGION AND CONTINUE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA SUNDAY.
WIDESPREAD SUSPENDED DUST IS LIKELY OVER THE MOJAVE DESERT REGION
WITH AREAS OF REDUCED VISIBILITY POSSIBLY PRODUCING MVFR CONDITIONS
NEAR THE SURFACE. MECHANICAL TURBULENCE CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE LEE
OF MOUNTAIN RANGES.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN
INTERMOUNTAIN REGION TONIGHT AND BRING A SHARP COLD FRONT DOWN
THROUGH THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERT. VERY STRONG
NORTH WINDS AND CRITICALLY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL DEVELOP
BEHIND THE FRONT SUNDAY. HOISTED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR THE LAKES
REGION OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA AND EASTERN SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA TO ACCOUNT FOR THE HIGH FIRE DANGER.
&&
.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR NVZ015>020-022.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR NVZ014.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 6 AM TO 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR NVZ466.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR NVZ021.
AZ...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ001.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 6 AM TO 7 PM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ101-102.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ002-036.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ003.
CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ519>522.
RED FLAG WARNING FROM 6 AM TO 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ228-229.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ526-527.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ524.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 12 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ523.
&&
SALMEN/ADAIR
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGASThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were blown down around the Las Vegas Valley. The peak wind at the KLAS ASOS was 62 mph at 8:04 PM PST.
A gust to 58 mph was measured by the Kane Springs RAWS.
A gust to 67 mph was measured by the Desert NWR RAWS (6 miles SSE of Hayford Peak).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, October 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: 59285, 59286, 59287.