An upper level low moving inland over southern California produced widely scattered virga and light rain showers, one of which produced an isolated high wind gust.
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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.
An upper level low moving inland over southern California produced widely scattered virga and light rain showers, one of which produced an isolated high wind gust.
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 May 5, 2:00 PM PST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 300 PM PDT MON MAY 5 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFF THE COAST OF BAJA MEXICO WILL MOVE INLAND ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO AND SOUTHERN ARIZONA OVERNIGHT AND TUESDAY. THIS WILL BRING POSSIBLE SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA OVERNIGHT AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA ON TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR OR A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL. && .SHORT TERM...CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES CONTINUED CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA...PRIMARILY RESULTING SHOWER ACTIVITY...BUT A HANDFUL OF CELLS HAVE DEVELOPED INTO THUNDERSTORMS. PW VALUES HAVE REMAINED AROUND 1/2 INCH OR LESS FOR THE MOST PART...SO THE BIGGEST CONCERN IS SURFACE WINDS IN THE VICINITY OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS...WITH OBSERVED AND MODEL SOUNDINGS ALL SHOWING DECENT DOWNBURST POTENTIAL. THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY SITUATED OFF OF THE COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA IS PROGGED TO MOVE INLAND OVERNIGHT INTO NORTHERN MEXICO...AND INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL BRING CONTINUED ISOLATED CHANCES FOR SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT...PRIMARILY OVER MOHAVE COUNTY WHERE DIFFLUENCE ALOFT SHOULD BE THE GREATEST. ON TUESDAY...BEST CHANCES WILL BE OVER MOHAVE COUNTY...AS THE RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF THE JET PASSES OVER DURING MAX HEATING. FOLLOWING A BRIEF PERIOD OF SHORTWAVE RIDGING...THE NEXT SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL IMPACT THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...WITH BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA AND ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIP ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF...MAINLY LINCOLN COUNTY. MODELS HAVE BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH THIS FEATURE...AND SHOWED IMPROVED CONSENSUS IN TIMING THIS MORNING. .LONG TERM...THE GENERAL WEATHER PATTERN FOR THE END OF THIS WEEK INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK FEATURES HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND WEAK TO MODERATE STRENGTH SHORTWAVES MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC NW AND ACROSS THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN. THE FIRST SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY BUT IS WEAKER THAN THE 00Z GFS WAS SHOWING FROM LAST NIGHT. THIS FOLLOWED THE TREND OF THE 06Z GFS AND THE 00Z ECMWF. THUS...TONED DOWN THE SMALL CHANCE POPS THAT WERE IN THE GRIDS EVEN MORE SO THAT ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER IS MENTIONED IN THE SIERRA AND IN NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY. STRONGER ENERGY IS FORECAST TO SLIDE BY TO THE NORTH FRIDAY. THIS COULD RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN SOUTHWEST WIND BUT ANY CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION IS SMALL TO NON-EXISTENT. DRY NORTHWEST TO WEST FLOW FOLLOWS OVER THE WEEKEND KEEPING THE AREA DRY WITH LIGHTER WIND. A THIRD TROUGH IS FORECAST THROUGH THE REGION MONDAY. AGAIN...THIS ONE IS MOISTURE STARVED AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE THE MAIN CONCERN. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD SHOULD BE AT OR SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN NORMAL. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED HAVE BEEN BOUNCING AROUND ALL AFTERNOON BUT HAS GENERALLY REMAINED UNDER 10 KTS AND FROM A EAST TO SOUTHEAST DIRECTION. THIS TREND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS WITH OCCASIONAL HIGHER GUSTS TO 16 KTS. WINDS WILL TAKE A GRADUAL TURN TO THE SOUTHWEST THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS BEEN CONFINED TO THE SOUTHERN END OF THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AND IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN TIED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN WHILE SCATTERED CU WITH BASES AROUND 10K FT IS ALL THAT IS EXPECTED IN THE VALLEY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE IN ALL APPROACH CORRIDORS THROUGH EARLY EVENING BUT ANY IMPACT TO KLAS WOULD BE CONFINED TO GUSTY THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW WINDS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN UNDER 10KTS TODAY BUT WILL BE GUSTY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE WEST...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AREAS. ISOLATED TSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER MAINLY THE HIGHER TERRAIN THROUGH EARLY EVENING. STORMS WILL GENERALLY MOVE FROM THE SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST DIRECTION AND WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GUSTY SURFACE OUTFLOW WINDS TO 35 KTS. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && KENNEDY/SALMEN HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 320 AM PDT MON MAY 5 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-060000- 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- 320 AM PDT MON MAY 5 2008 /320 AM MST MON MAY 5 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred at Daggett, CA.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, May 2008
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: 91090.