A strong cold front brought gusty southwest winds ahead of it, and gusty north winds behind it. Isolated downslope winds were also seen ahead of the front.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 strong cold front brought gusty southwest winds ahead of it, and gusty north winds behind it. Isolated downslope winds were also seen ahead of the front.
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 Oct 27, 2:40 PM PST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 340 PM PDT TUE OCT 27 2009 .SYNOPSIS...STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS AND MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...AS A RESULT OF A STRONG COLD FRONT WHICH PASSED THROUGH THE REGION TODAY. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTIES TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BEGIN TO INCREASE UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS NOW SHOWS THE COLD FRONT THROUGH KINGMAN ARIZONA AND EXITING THE FORECAST AREA...SO MAIN FEATURE OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS AS HIGH PRESSURE SLOWLY SLIDES IN FROM THE WEST. THIS WILL DO LITTLE TO WARM TEMPERATURES...WITH COLD NORTHERLY FLOW IN PLACE AND HEIGHTS WELL BELOW NORMAL. WINDS ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG...WITH 35KTS THE AVERAGE SPEED AT 700MB THROUGH THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY. DURING THE SAME TIME...THERE WILL STILL BE A DECENT NORTH SOUTH SURFACE GRADIENT AND PLENTY OF SUBSIDENCE HELPING TO PUSH DOWN WINDS ALOFT...SO EXPECT ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS THROUGH AT LEAST THE NEXT 24 HOURS AT MOST LOCATIONS. THERE WILL HOWEVER BE A LULL IN WINDS TONIGHT AT LOWER ELEVATIONS STARTING LATE TONIGHT...BUT GUIDANCE INCREASES WINDS AGAIN AREAWIDE BY LATE MORNING. RATHER THAN ISSUE 2 SEPARATE ADVISORIES...HAVE OPTED TO COVER THE AREA WITH ONE ADVISORY...WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT THERE WILL BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF WINDS BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. AS RIDGING BUILDS OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEK...TEMPERATURES BECOME THE BIGGEST FORECAST CHALLENGE. THURSDAY MORNING WILL LIKELY BE BY FAR THE COLDEST OF THE SEASON. WITH UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPERATURES ALREADY IN PLACE...AND CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED BY THURSDAY NIGHT...RADIATIONAL COOLING WILL LIKELY RESULT IN LOW TEMPS MUCH COOLER THEN PREVIOUS NIGHTS...WITH TEMPERATURES BELOW 40 DEGREES ACROSS THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY POSSIBLE. .LONG TERM...BY FRIDAY MORNING THE AREA WILL BE FIRMLY UNDER NORTHWEST FLOW AND AT THE START OF A PERIOD WHERE THE RIDGE OFF THE WEST COAST WILL STRENGTHEN AND MOVE EAST OVER THE CWA. THE WEEKEND WILL SEE A WARMING TREND AS A RESULT WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS THIS WEEKEND. GFS MORE THAN THE OTHER MODELS DOES PREDICT THAT MINOR WAVES WILL PROPAGATE OVER THE RIDGE TOP. MOST OF THE ENERGY WILL REMAIN NORTH OF OUR AREA. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...THE GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE WELL INTO THE EVENING BEFORE GUSTS GET BELOW THE 30 KNOT LEVEL. SOME CLEARING OF THE CLOUDS WILL ALSO OCCUR BY 06Z...WITH CEILINGS EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE 10K FEET. SHOWERS ARE LIKELY OVER NEARBY MOUNTAIN RANGES AND VIRGA OVER THE VALLEY IS LIKELY AS WELL. BY MIDNIGHT WINDS WILL SUBSIDE BUT EXPECT THEM TO INCREASE AGAIN WITH GUSTS IN THE 25-30 KNOT RANGE FROM THE NORTH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...THE STRONG WEST TO NORTH POST FRONTAL WINDS WILL PERSIST LATE INTO THE EVENING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE OVER RIDGE TOPS AND IN NORTH/SOUTH ORIENTATED VALLEYS. MOUNTAIN SHOWERS AND VIRGA WILL OCCUR OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AROUND 06Z. LOCALLY AREAS OF BLOWING DUST RESTRICTING VISIBILITY WILL OCCUR WITH THE STRONG WINDS. WEDNESDAY WILL SEE AREAWIDE CLEARING WITH THE NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS AGAIN INCREASING BY 18-19Z BUT AT LEVELS LESS THAN TODAYS. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR NVZ014>022. AZ...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM MST WEDNESDAY FOR AZZ001>003-036. CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 8 PM PDT WEDNESDAY FOR CAZ519>527. && KENNEDY/JACQUES HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 640 AM PDT TUE OCT 27 2009 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-280445- 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- 640 AM PDT TUE OCT 27 2009 /640 AM MST TUE OCT 27 2009/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE OVER NEVADA TODAY RESULTING IN VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE AHEAD OF THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WHILE NORTH WINDS WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT. WIND GUSTS TO OVER 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN THE VALLEYS...WHILE GUSTS TO NEAR 80 MPH OR GREATER MAY BE EXPERIENCED IN THE HIGHER EXPOSED MOUNTAIN AREAS DURING THE DAY. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS CONCERNING HIGH WIND WARNINGS AND FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS. AS THE STORM SHIFTS SOUTH TONIGHT WINDS WILL DECREASE...BUT EXPECT GUSTY WINDS TO LAST THROUGH THE NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE INTO ARIZONA ON WEDNESDAY AND THEN INTO NEW MEXICO BY THURSDAY. HOWEVER STRONG NORTH WINDS ALOFT AND CONTINUE TO CREATE GUSTY WINDS ON WEDNESDAY WITH WIND ADVISORIES LIKELY NEED ACROSS MUCH OF THE DISTRICT. THE WINDS SHOULD DECREASE ON THURSDAY WITH LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED FOR THE REST OF THE PERIOD. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY BE SEEN OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BUT TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW 3 INCHES. IN ADDITION TO THE WIND AND SNOW...COLDER TEMPERATURES WILL BRING THE COLDEST MORNING LOWS OF THE SEASON TO THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY MORNINGS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1127 AM PDT TUE OCT 27 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0310 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 3 WSW INDEPENDENCE 36.78N 118.24W
10/27/2009 M62.00 MPH INYO CA MESONET
MEASURED AT SIERRA ROTORS SITE NUMBER 2 LOCATED AT
ELEVATION OF 4842 FEET.
0656 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 E BISHOP 37.37N 118.36W
10/27/2009 M59.00 MPH INYO CA ASOS
&&
KLABELLEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1138 AM PDT TUE OCT 27 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1051 AM HIGH SUST WINDS N SQUAW SPRINGS RAWS 35.37N 117.57W
10/27/2009 M42 MPH SAN BERNARDINO CA MESONET
&&
KLABELLEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred 4 miles NW of Pahrump.
This gust occurred 12 miles SW of Elgin.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, October 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 195561, 195562.