High temperatures contributed to the deaths of two people in the Las Vegas area. One death occurred on the 10th, when the high temperature was 104 degrees, and temperatures had been 100 degrees or higher for 21 out of 24 days.
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.
High temperatures contributed to the deaths of two people in the Las Vegas area. One death occurred on the 10th, when the high temperature was 104 degrees, and temperatures had been 100 degrees or higher for 21 out of 24 days. The other death occurred on the 12th, when the high temperature was 107 degrees, and temperatures had been 100 degrees or higher for 23 out of 26 days.
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 Aug 10, 8:43 AM PST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 943 AM PDT SUN AUG 10 2008 .SYNOPSIS...DRIER AIR WILL BE OVER THE AREA INTO TUESDAY BEFORE MOISTURE RETURNS AND BRINGS SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS BACK TO THE REGION INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH TUESDAY. && .UPDATE...SHALLOW LAYER OF MOISTURE AROUND 700 MB LEFT ACROSS NORTHWEST ARIZONA AS DEPICTED BY 15Z GOES SOUNDER SHOULD MIX OUT AS THE DAY WEARS ON. WATER VAPOR SHOWS MUCH DRIER AIR NOW BLANKETING ENTIRE AREA. REGION WILL STAY DRY THROUGH TUESDAY AS E-W ORIENTATION OF SUBTROPICAL RIDGE AXIS TO OUR SOUTH WITH STOP ANY ATTEMPT OF MONSOON MOISTURE SEEPING NORTH. DID A MINOR UPDATE TO REMOVE MENTION OF THE LIGHT WIND AS SEVERAL ZONES ALREADY BLOWING FROM THE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST INCLUDING THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY. && .PREV DISCUSSION...310 AM PDT SUN AUG 10...UPPER TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE PACNW HAS BROUGHT A DRIER/MORE STABLE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT TO THE CWA WITH MOISTURE BEING PUSHED INTO EASTERN ARIZONA AS SEEN ON WATER VAPOR. WITH DRIER AIR/FORECAST LIFTED INDEXES INCREASING TO POSITIVE VALUES ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...HAVE REMOVED MENTIONED OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE ENTIRE CWA WITH ONLY A FEW CU EXPECTED OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE AREA TODAY. SIMILAR CONDITIONS EXPECTED ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AS FAIRLY FLAT EAST/WEST RIDGE AXIS LAYS OVER THE CWA...CONFINING MOISTURE TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF OUR AREA. TEMPERATURES TO WARM A FEW DEGREES THROUGH THE SHORT TERM...BUT OVERALL FLAT RIDGE WILL TEND TO LIMIT ANY MAJOR HEATING THROUGH THE SHORT TERM SO OVERALL TEMPS WILL RUN ONLY 3 TO 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR MOST AREAS. .LONG TERM...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE OVERALL TREND OF RE-FORMING AN UPPER RIDGE CENTERED NEAR THE AZ/NM BORDER BY WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN A DEEP SOUTHEAST FLOW FROM SONORA INTO NEVADA ALLOWING RENEWED MOISTURE IMPORT INTO OUR FORECAST AREA IN THE WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY TIME FRAME. THE ECMWF AND MOST OF THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS DEPICT THIS GENERAL PATTERN. HOWEVER...DIFFERENCES IN DETAILS REMAIN...PARTICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO INTERACTION BETWEEN AN EMBEDDED WAVE IN THE SOUTHEAST FLOW AND AN OFFSHORE TROUGH IN THE WESTERLIES. THE OPERATIONAL GFS SUGGESTS AN AMPLITUDE AND TRAJECTORY THAT WOULD PRODUCE WIDESPREAD ORGANIZED CONVECTION MOVING INTO OUR AREA FROM THE SOUTH LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. ECMWF AND THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN ARE LESS BULLISH ON THIS FEATURE BUT STILL INDICATE SUFFICIENT MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT STARTING WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY AND CONTINUING EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMPACTS TO AIR TRAFFIC FLOW EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLEAR WITH SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS AVERAGING AROUND 10 KNOTS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMPACTS TO AIR TRAFFIC FLOW EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. SKIES WILL REMAIN CLEAR AND WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST AT AROUND 10 KNOTS WITH A FEW GUSTS NEAR 20 KNOTS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && PIERCE/JENSEN/RUNK HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 304 AM PDT SUN AUG 10 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-110100- 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- 304 AM PDT SUN AUG 10 2008 /304 AM MST SUN AUG 10 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY DRY AND STABLE AIR EXPECTED OVER THE AREA THROUGH TUESDAY FOR GENERALLY CLOUD FREE SKIES. HOWEVER MOISTURE WILL RETURN TO THE DISTRICT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WITH SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ONCE AGAIN FORMING AND CONTINUING INTO THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Two people in the Las Vegas area died of heat-related causes.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2008-08-12 | 52 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2008-08-10 | 68 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, August 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: 134715.