Yet another series of Pacific storms brought heavy snow, high winds, and thunderstorms to parts of the Mojave Desert and Southern Great Basin.
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.
Yet another series of Pacific storms brought heavy snow, high winds, and thunderstorms to parts of the Mojave Desert and Southern Great Basin.
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 21, 9:06 PM PST, 2 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 906 PM PST THU FEB 21 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A WEAK PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND FRIDAY RESULTING IN SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW OVER THE AREA. THERE WILL BE A BREAK ON SATURDAY BEFORE ANOTHER...STRONGER STORM AFFECTS THE REGION ON SUNDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD OVERHEAD EARLY NEXT WEEK...FOR DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS. && .UPDATE...RADAR DETECTING SMALL AREA OF LIGHT SHOWERS APPROACHING THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY FROM THE SOUTHWEST. AN AUTOMATED GAGE AT MOUNTAIN PASS ALONG I-15 IN NORTHEAST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MEASURED 0.04 INCHES AS THE BAND PASSED BY. THE AREA IS QUICKLY MOVING TO THE EAST AND EXPECT ONLY A TRACE OR A FEW HUNDREDTH AT MOST IN THE VALLEY. REGIONAL RADAR OVER CALIFORNIA SHOWS TWO DISTINCT AREA OF PRECIPITATION WITH MOST OF THIS EXPECT TO SPLIT THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY TONIGHT. ONE AREA CURRENTLY PUSHING THROUGH THE SOUTHLAND WILL SKIRT ACROSS SOUTHERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY TONIGHT AND ACROSS SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY FRIDAY MORNING. THE SECOND AREA HAS BEEN PRODUCING HEAVY SNOW IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA WITH 10 INCHES OF NEW SNOW AT ASPENDELL SINCE 3 PM. 00Z GFS/NAM IN AGREEMENT THAT MOST OF THIS MOISTURE WILL MOVE NORTH OF LAS VEGAS ACROSS CENTRAL NYE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. A ZONE UPDATE HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED AND REMOVED THE MENTION OF EARLY EVENING. && .PREV DISCUSSION...330 PM PST THU FEB 21...WEAK SHORTWAVE PUSHING ACROSS CALIFORNIA TO MOVE THROUGH THE CWA TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY. ALTHOUGH SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE POPS LOOKED FOR ACROSS MUCH OF THE DISTRICT...BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE MOUNTAINS WITH OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT PLAYING A BIG PART. HOWEVER OVERALL QPF TOTALS SHOULD REMAIN LIGHT. WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGE TO BUILD OVER THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY BEFORE NEXT STRONGER STORM FORMS OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST SATURDAY. THIS SYSTEM TO BEGIN MOVING INLAND LATE SATURDAY WITH INCREASING PRECIPITATION INTO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA SATURDAY NIGHT AND THEN ACROSS THE DISTRICT INTO THE LONG TERM. AS THE FIRST SYSTEM CROSSES OVER THE AREA ON FRIDAY STABILITY WILL ONCE AGAIN DECREASE ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA AND WILL INCLUDE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS FOR THIS AREA. ALSO INCREASED SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS TO BRING GUSTY WINDS TO WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. AT THIS TIME WINDS LOOK TO BE BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. NEXT CONCERN IS SYSTEM OVER THE WEEKEND. BEST QPF FOR SATURDAY NIGHT TO BE OVER THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA...BUT ENOUGH DYNAMICS TO PUSH ACCUMULATING SNOW ONTO THE EAST SIDE AND LOCALLY HEAVY AMOUNTS MAY BE SEEN OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS BY SUNDAY MORNING. GOOD SOUTHWEST FLOW TO ALSO PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE CREST...HOWEVER IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE WINDS WILL REACH INTO THE VALLEY ATTM. DECIDE NOT TO ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH ATTM FOR THE EAST SLOPES...HOWEVER WILL BE WATCHING THE DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MODEL RUNS. WITH THE UNSETTLE PATTERN CONTINUING INTO THE WEEKEND...DAYTIME TEMPS TO REMAIN GENERALLY BELOW NORMAL. .LONG TERM...GOOD OVERALL MODEL AGREEMENT ON NEXT SYSTEM ON SUNDAY. ALL SHOW COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE COMING IN AND A DECENT AMOUNT BEING DEPOSITED ON THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE SIERRA. HOWEVER BELIEVE AS IN OTHER SIMILAR AND RECENT SYSTEMS ENOUGH WILL MAKE IT OVER TO BRING WIDE SPREAD CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION AREA WIDE SUNDAY AND INTO EARLY MONDAY. STILL HAVE A POSSIBLE DOWN SLOPE WIND EVENT TO CONSIDER WITH THIS SYSTEM IN THE SIERRA/OWENS VALLEY. HAVE LEFT THE STRONGEST WIND ON THE HIGHER PEAKS AS I STILL EXPECT THE HEAVY PRECIPITATION ON THE MOUNTAIN TO DRAG THE WINDS DOWN AS BOTH WILL OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME. FURTHER...THIS FAR OUT IT IS HARD TO BE PRECISE IN TIMING OF THIS AND BEST LEFT TO WHEN WE GET CLOSER TO THE EVENT. OTHERWISE DID RAISE TEMPERATURES A TAD IN THE MIDWEEK ON. RIDGING OVER THE WESTERN CONUS STARTS AND BUILD MONDAY ONWARD. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...A BAND OF LIGHT SHOWERS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY BETWEEN 05Z-07Z WITH CEILING DROPPING TO 6 KFT. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE BY EARLY AFTERNOON FRIDAY WITH CEILING ABOVE 5000 FT AND RAIN OUT OF THE AREA. NEXT PERIOD OF ACTIVE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SATURDAY NIGHT WITH THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...A STORM SYSTEM APPROACHING FROM CALIFORNIA WILL BRING LOWER CEILINGS FROM WEST TO EAST THIS EVENING IN THE 3-5K FT RANGE ALONG WITH WIDE SPREAD SHOWERS THROUGH THE AREA AND PERSIST THROUGH THE MORNINGS HOURS FRIDAY. SNOW IS LIKELY OVER THE SIERRA AND CENTRAL NEVADA MOUNTAINS. HIGHER CEILINGS WILL COME FRIDAY MORNING AGAIN FROM WEST TO EAST AND BY LATE AFTERNOON THERE SHOULD LITTLE IF ANY PRECIPITATION IN THE AREA. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...HEAVY SNOW WARNING UNTIL 4 AM PST FRIDAY FOR CAZ519. && PIERCE/JENSEN/JACQUES HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 307 AM PST THU FEB 21 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-220800- 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- 307 AM PST THU FEB 21 2008 /407 AM MST THU FEB 21 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL APPROACH THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST THIS AFTERNOON...BRINGING SNOW TO THE SIERRA TODAY AND CHANCES FOR MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN TO THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT LIKELY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY CHANCES FOR MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY...AND GUSTY WINDS WILL AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE MOJAVE DESERT FRIDAY AS WELL. AFTER A BREAK ON SATURDAY...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. THIS STORM COULD BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW TO THE EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES. STRONG WINDS COULD ALSO BE POSSIBLE...BUT THE EXACT LOCATION AND TIMING ARE STILL UNCERTAIN. MUCH QUIETER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE TAKES OVER. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MORGAN
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
832 PM PST THU FEB 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0830 PM HEAVY SNOW ASPENDELL 37.23N 118.58W
02/21/2008 M10.0 INCH INYO CA TRAINED SPOTTER
SNOWFALL MEASURED BETWEEN 300PM AND 830PM.
&&
KLABELLEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The sheriff's office recorded 24 inches of snow in Pioche.
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, February 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: 77081.