A trough of low pressure which brought strong winds to portions of the Mojave Desert and Southern Great Basin on August 31st produced one more strong wind event just after midnight on September 1st.
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 trough of low pressure which brought strong winds to portions of the Mojave Desert and Southern Great Basin on August 31st produced one more strong wind event just after midnight on September 1st.
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 31, 10:00 PM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1100 PM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT AND MONDAY. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING AHEAD OF THE FRONT WHILE LIGHTER NORTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE FRONT MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. DRY CONDITIONS WITH LIGHT WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS. && .UPDATE...ALLOWED WIND ADVISORY AND RED FLAG WARNING TO EXPIRE. UPDATES ALREADY OUT. && .PREV DISCUSSION... 336 PM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 .SHORT TERM...SCATTERED TO BROKEN CUMULUS OVER LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON BUT LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE REMAINED OUTSIDE THE CWA. CANNOT TOTALLY RULE OUT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THOSE AREAS EARLY THIS EVENING SO LEFT SOME MENTION IN THE FORECAST. OTHERWISE DRY AIR REALLY MOVING IN WITH AN INCREASING SOUTHWEST TO WEST FLOW AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING TROUGH AND COLD FRONT. AFTER THIS EVENING...THE AIR MASS WILL BE DRY AND STABLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WINDS ARE REACHING ADVISORY CRITERIA ACROSS INYO...ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTIES BUT HAVE NOT YET DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. GRADIENTS STILL INCREASING THOUGH AND WILL KEEP THE WIND ADVISORY GOING THERE. MODELS INDICATING WINDS DECREASING SHARPLY LATER TONIGHT AS NORTH/NORTHWEST WINDS START TO MOVE IN BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. LOOKS LIKE WINDS WILL BE SLOW TO SHIFT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA AND MAY NOT BECOME NORTHERLY UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT. THIS INDICATES THE FRONT IS NOT THAT STRONG AND COOLING WILL NOT BE THAT DRAMATIC ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES. STILL LOOKING FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES HOWEVER ON MONDAY. FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS AND DRY CONDITIONS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING BACK UP TO AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BY WEDNESDAY. .LONG TERM...A BROAD RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE IS FORECAST OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND EXTREME WESTERN CONUS DURING THE EXTENDED AND WILL KEEP SYSTEMS WELL NORTH OF THE AREA. THIS WILL RESULT IN DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING BACK ABOVE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS. ONLY REAL CHANGES TO THE GRIDS WERE TO WARM TEMPS A COUPLE OF DEGREES AND LOWER DEWPOINTS/RELATIVE HUMIDITY TO ACCOUNT FOR RIDGING EXTENDING FURTHER EAST INTO THE SOUTHWEST. .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SCATTERED CU AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS WILL RANGE FROM 15-20 KTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KTS POSSIBLE. CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHTER WINDS ARE EXPECTED MONDAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...THERE IS A DECREASING THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ANYWHERE OVER THE AREA. HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED STORM IS STILL POSSIBLE IN EASTERN MOHAVE COUNTY AND EXTREME NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY THROUGH THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...DRY WITH BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS INTO THE EVENING. WIND GUSTS FROM 30 TO OVER 40 KTS ARE POSSIBLE. STRONG RIDGETOP AND EAST SLOPE WINDS ALONG THE SOUTHERN SIERRA TO PRODUCE SOME MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE IN THE OWENS VALLEY. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && MORGAN/HARRISON/SALMEN HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 523 AM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-010000- 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- 523 AM PDT SUN AUG 31 2008 /523 AM MST SUN AUG 31 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MAINLY MOHAVE COUNTY ARIZONA TODAY. HOWEVER DRIER AIR MOVING IN TO THE REGION WILL DECREASE THE POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE DAY. THE DRIER AIR WILL BE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT OR EARLY MONDAY. WINDS AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM WILL INCREASE OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...RESULTING IN POSSIBLE FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS AND ALSO WIND ADVISORIES...GUSTS TO OVER 40 MPH POSSIBLE. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST STATEMENTS. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE BY MID EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY DUE TO THE COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA...DRIER AND STABLE AIR WILL BE OVER THE DISTRICT THROUGH THE WEEK. THIS WILL END THE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL AND BRING GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES TO THE AREA. DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL BE BELOW NORMAL INITIALLY AND THEN WARM TO NEAR NORMAL BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1259 AM PDT MON SEP 01 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0350 AM FLASH FLOOD 1 NNE LAKE HAVASU CITY 34.47N 114.33W
08/31/2008 MOHAVE AZ TRAINED SPOTTER
SEVERAL ROADS IN LAKE HAVASU CITY WERE BLOCKED OR CLOSED
DUE TO WATER RUNOFF OVER THE ROADWAYS FROM A THUNDERSTORM
IN THE AREA.
0230 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 8 ESE INDIAN SPRINGS 36.54N 115.54W
08/31/2008 M63.00 MPH CLARK NV MESONET
NELLIS RANGE MESOWEST SITE 63 AT ELEVATION 3076
FEET...MEASURED A MAX GUST OF 63 MPH WITH GUSTS ABOVE 50
MPH BETWEEN 1130 AM AND 245 PM.
0645 PM TSTM WND GST 1 S MERCURY 36.66N 116.00W
08/31/2008 M64.00 MPH NYE NV MESONET
THE MECURY MESOWEST SITE MEASURED A MAX WIND GUST AT 64
MPH WITH GUSTS ABOVE 60 MPH BETWEEN 315 PM AND 630 PM.
0945 PM TSTM WND GST 11 WSW COLORADO CITY 36.94N 113.17W
08/31/2008 M58.00 MPH MOHAVE AZ MESONET
WINDS AT THE A14 MESONET SITE GUSTED TO 58 MPH BETWEEN
1230 PM AND 945 PM.
&&
KLABELLEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds blew over a construction wall at Sahara Ave. and Las Vegas Blvd. Two people were injured.
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, September 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: 129952.