The last in a series of Pacific storms brought heavy snow to the higher elevations of southeast California and southern Nevada.
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.
The last in a series of Pacific storms brought heavy snow to the higher elevations of southeast California and southern Nevada.
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 15, 3:45 PM PST, 13 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
345 PM PST SUN FEB 15 2009
.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL REMAIN OFF THE
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST TONIGHT WITH A BAND OF RAIN REMAINING IN
CALIFORNIA. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL EJECT INLAND ACROSS THE
AREA MONDAY SPREADING PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION.
SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS. IT
WILL REMAIN COOL AND UNSETTLED ON TUESDAY. A WARMING TREND IS THEN
EXPECTED FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK UNDER A RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE.
&&
.SHORT TERM...STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS CONTINUE UP THROUGH
THE OWENS VALLEY AND VALLEYS OF ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY.
DYER NEVADA WEB CAMERA CONTINUES TO SHOW THE VISIBILITY BEING
REDUCED AT TIMES IN BLOWING DUST OFF NEARBY DRY LAKE BEDS. ADVISORY
LEVEL GUSTS HAVE BEEN ISOLATED AT BEST...HOWEVER WILL CONTINUE THE
WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 7 PM PST. RADAR SHOWS BAND OF RAIN LIFTING
NORTH OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS FITS MODEL OUTPUT
AS UPPER WINDS BACK TONIGHT AS STRONG SHORTWAVE DIGS DOWN BACKSIDE
OF TROUGH. RAIN BAND WILL TAKE ON A MORE NORTH/SOUTH ORIENTATION
TONIGHT ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST. STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL
EJECT INLAND MONDAY AND SPREAD MOISTURE/DYNAMICS INTO OUR WESTERN
ZONES MONDAY MORNING. THE BAND WILL CONTINUE EAST INTO SOUTHERN
NEVADA MONDAY AFTERNOON THEN ACROSS NORTHWEST ARIZONA MONDAY NIGHT.
ONLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO POP FIELDS WAS TO REDUCE VALUES SOUTHEAST
NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA MONDAY. WILL UPGRADE WINTER STORM WATCH
TO A WARNING FOR INYO AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY MOUNTAINS. WILL
CONTINUE WITH WATCHES ELSEWHERE FOR NOW. ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONG
SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS EXPECTED TOMORROW FOR SAN BERNARDINO AND
MOHAVE COUNTIES AS ANOTHER WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NECESSARY. DID BUMP
UP TEMPERATURES IN EASTERN ZONES DUE TO DELAYED ONSET OF RAIN AND
INCREASED SOUTHERLY WINDS. CONTINUED UNSETTLED AND COOL TUESDAY WITH
UPPER TROUGH LINGERING OVER THE AREA.
.LONG TERM...THE AREA WILL BE ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH COME
WEDNESDAY MORNING. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF DEPICT A MINOR RIPPLE WORKING
SOUTHEAST ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH. HAVE KEPT IN THE POPS IN
THE NORTH PART OF THE FORECAST AREA AS A RESULT. REST OF THE WEEK
WILL SEE RIDGING BUILD IN AND A WARMING TREND. JUST MADE MINOR
ADJUSTMENTS IN THE FORECAST. THE LAST DAY IN THE EXTENDED SUNDAY IS
ONE OF LOWER CONFIDENCE AS MODELS DIFFER ON THE APPROACH OF THE NEXT
SYSTEM. GFS KEEP MORE RIDGING OVER THE AREA AS ECMWF HAS THE RIDGE
SHIFT EAST OR FLATTENED AND BRINGS IN MORE MOISTURE THAN THE GFS.
KEPT IN INHERITED HIGHER POPS FOR OUR HIGHER ELEVATION AREAS AS THE
ECMWF IDEA OF INCREASED MOISTURE IS MORE PLAUSIBLE DUE TO IT
PERFORMANCE.
&&
.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...CEILINGS WILL LOWER MONDAY AS THE NEXT
STORM APPROACHES. FOR NOW 00Z TAF REMAINS BEST ESTIMATE. DO NOT
EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION IN THE AREA UNTIL LATE
MONDAY AFTERNOON AND THEN INTO THE NIGHT. UNTIL THEN EXPECT CEILINGS
TO REMAIN ABOVE 8000 FEET. WIND WILL BECOME STRONGER AND FROM THE
SOUTH MONDAY AFTERNOON.
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...WINDS WILL REMAIN GUSTY FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST IN
THE OWENS VALLEY AND IN ESMERALDA. MONDAY MORNING ONWARDS WILL SEE
HEAVY SNOW IN THE AREAS MOUNTAIN RANGES ABOUT 5000-5500 FEET AND
RAIN AT LOWER ELEVATIONS. CONDITIONS WILL NOT START TO IMPROVE UNTIL
LATE MONDAY NIGHT FROM WEST TO EAST.
&&
.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE MONDAY
NIGHT FOR NVZ015-018-019.
WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 7 AM TO 10 PM PST MONDAY FOR NVZ014.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR NVZ014.
AZ...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING
FOR AZZ001-003.
CA...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 7 AM TO 10 PM PST MONDAY FOR CAZ519-
521-522.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM PST THIS EVENING FOR CAZ520.
&&
PIERCE/JACQUES
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGASThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Thirteen inches of snow fell at Aspendell (8500').
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2009
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 149983.