High temperatures contributed to the deaths of two people in the Las Vegas area on September 4th. The high temperature was 102 degrees.
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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.
High temperatures contributed to the deaths of two people in the Las Vegas area on September 4th. The high temperature was 102 degrees.
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 Sep 4, 8:30 AM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 930 AM PDT THU SEP 4 2008 .SYNOPSIS...DRY CONDITIONS AND ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE WEEKEND. MOISTURE AND CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE ON MONDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES TOWARD THE FORECAST AREA FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. && .UPDATE...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY CONTINUES TO TELL THE STORY. THERE IS PLENTY OF DRY AIR CURRENTLY IN PLACE AND A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO USHER IN DRY AIR TO THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN TODAY. LOW TEMPS THIS MORNING WERE NOT AS COOL AS PREVIOUS MORNINGS AND ALTHOUGH WE ONLY SAW A MODEST JUMP IN TEMPS TODAY OVER YESTERDAY FOR LOWS...IT WAS CERTAINLY NOTICEABLE WHEN YOU STEPPED OUTSIDE THIS MORNING (WELL AT LEAST TO ME). THE LATEST 24 HOUR TEMP CHANGES SHOW ABOUT TEMPS ARE RUNNING GENERALLY ABOUT 2 TO 5 DEGREES ABOVE WHERE THEY WERE YESTERDAY. THE COMBINATION OF THIS WARMER START TO THE DAY AS WELL AS THE WARMING NOTED FROM AROUND 675 MB TO 875 MB IN THE KDRA 12Z SOUNDING OF ABOUT 2C SUPPORTS THE WARMING TREND THE CURRENT FORECAST HAS FOR THIS AFTERNOON. WE HAD A FEW FLAT CUMULUS DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS SURROUNDING THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY YESTERDAY AND THAT MAY BE THE CASE AGAIN TODAY...BUT DO NOT PLAN TO ADJUST SKY GRIDS AS THIS IS A MINOR THING. SO THERE ARE NO CHANGES TO THE CURRENT FORECAST. .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. NO REAL CHANGE EXPECTED FOR THE SHORT TERM. A FEW DEGREES OF WARNING WILL OCCUR EACH DAY AS PREVIOUSLY FORECASTED. THE ONLY CHANGE SEEMS TO BE THE MODELS ARE TRYING TO ORGANIZE THE LOW IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST A BIT EARLIER...ON SATURDAY NOW. .LONG TERM...MODELS ARE STILL SHOWING A WEAK CLOSED LOW OFF THE SOUTHERN CA COAST TO EVENTUALLY OPEN AND PUSH INLAND TUESDAY. GFS AND ECMWF CONTINUE TO BRING MID LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE CWA MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH THE NEWER RUNS NOW STARTING TO SHOW A MOISTENING AT THE LOWER LEVELS. THE MODELS ARE ALSO INDICATING BETTER INSTABILITY MONDAY AND TUESDAY OVER THE SOUTHERN CWA. STILL RELUCTANT TO ADD MEASURABLE POPS INTO THE FORECAST...BUT HAVE UPPED THEM SLIGHTLY TOWARD 15 PERCENT AND DID INCREASE CLOUD COVER. WITH THE TROUGH PASSAGE...TEMPERATURES WILL EVENTUALLY FALL TO BELOW NORMAL READINGS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY. A GENERALLY CLEAR SKY IS EXPECTED WITH WINDS FOLLOWING A DIURNAL CYCLE OF NORTHEAST TO EAST 4-8 KTS IN THE AFTERNOON AND SOUTHWEST 4-8 KTS IN THE OVERNIGHT. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY. A GENERALLY CLEAR IS EXPECTED WITH WIND SPEEDS UNDER 10 KTS. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && UPDATE...STACHELSKI PREVIOUS SHORT TERM/LONG TERM...81/GORELOW AVIATION...STACHELSKI/GORELOW HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 302 AM PDT THU SEP 4 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-050115- 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- 302 AM PDT THU SEP 4 2008 /302 AM MST THU SEP 4 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...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY 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 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 | 2008-09-04 | 78 | Male | Mobile/Trailer Home | Direct |
| Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2008-09-04 | 58 | 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, 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: 134717.