A strong low pressure system and associated cold front brought high winds to the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 low pressure system and associated cold front brought high winds to 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 Oct 3, 7:00 PM PST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
800 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 2009
.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH TONIGHT AND BE OVER NORTHWEST NEVADA
SUNDAY. STRONG AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WILL OCCUR THROUGH
SUNDAY BEFORE WEAKENING. MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE LIMITED
WITH ANY SHOWERS OCCURRING OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN INYO
AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA. MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR SUNDAY
AND CONTINUE INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.
&&
.UPDATE...ALLOWED RED FLAG WARNING TO EXPIRE ON SCHEDULE AT 8 PM DUE
TO HUMIDITIES RISING ABOVE 15 PERCENT. ALSO TWEAKED PUBLIC ZONES TO
REFLECT CURRENT SKY COVER TRENDS A LITTLE BETTER. NO OTHER CHANGES
AT THIS TIME.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION...
340 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 2009
.SHORT TERM...DEEP TROUGH SAGGING SOUTH THROUGH THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST THIS AFTERNOON WITH ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT LYING OVER FAR
NORTHWEST NEVADA. UPPER LOW WILL SETTLE OVER NORTHWEST NEVADA
TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH FRONT WORKING INTO CENTRAL NEVADA. GUSTY
WINDS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE MAIN AFFECTS FROM THE
SYSTEM. EXPECTING STRONGER BELT OF WINDS ALOFT TO SAG SOUTH ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA AND HIGHER TERRAIN OF SOUTHERN NEVADA TONIGHT.
HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS STILL INDICATES THE POTENTIAL OF A MODEST
DOWNSLOPE WIND EVENT ALONG THE LEE OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA AND SPRING
MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY. STRONGEST BELT OF WINDS
CONTINUES TO WORK SOUTH AND IS PROGGED TO LIE OVER THE SOUTHEAST
HALF OF CLARK COUNTY...SAN BERNARDINO AND MOHAVE COUNTIES SUNDAY.
WINDS WILL BACK OFF SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS UPPER LOW WEAKENS AND
LIFTS NORTHEAST ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH. MOISTURE REMAINS LIMITED WITH
ANY SHOWERS MOST LIKELY OCCURRING OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF
NORTHERN INYO AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
ADDITIONAL ENERGY DIGGING SOUTH THROUGH CALIFORNIA MONDAY NIGHT WILL
DEVELOP INTO ANOTHER CLOSED LOW OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST
TUESDAY WHICH WILL IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.
TEMPERATURES WILL BE WELL BELOW NORMAL TOMORROW AND MONDAY.
.LONG TERM...LONG TERM STARTS OUT WITH SPLITTING FLOW FROM THE
WEEKEND SYSTEM. THE MAIN TROUGH WILL BE HEADING OFF TO THE EAST
WHILE IT PINCHES OFF A LOW OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THIS LOW WILL
TRACK OVER OR THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CWA. MODEL DIFFERENCES EXIST
IN THE SPEED AND TRACK. LEANED MORE TOWARDS THE ECMWF AS IT HAS BEEN
BETTER AT PREDICTED THE EXISTENCE OF THIS SYSTEM IN THE FIRST PLACE
AND SEVERAL OF THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS POINT THIS WAY AS WELL. SO
FAR DO NOT EXPECT SIGNIFICANT RAIN COVERAGE OR AMOUNTS WITH THIS
SYSTEM AND LEFT IN THE LOW POP VALUES THAT WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE
HIGHER ELEVATIONS. COOL NORTHWEST FLOW WILL BE ON THE BACK SIDE AND
TEMPERATURE FORECAST IS A BIT OF A CHALLENGE. TWEAKED THE MID WEEK
TEMPERATURES DOWN A BIT. LOOK FOR SOME RISE AS RIDGE BUILDS IN IN
THE LAST PART OF OTHERWISE LEFT PREVIOUS FORECAST AS IS.
.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...GUSTY WINDS THIS AFTERNOON WILL DECREASE
AFTER SUNSET BUT OCCASIONAL GUSTS COULD STILL OCCUR. LATE TONIGHT
THE WIND WILL INCREASE AND GUST AGAIN AS THE STRONG LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE MOVES CLOSER TO THE AREA. THEY WILL BE SOUTHERLY
THIS EVENING AND BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON BE FROM THE WEST. PEAK GUSTS
SHOULD OCCUR IN THE LATE MORNING HOURS WITH GUSTS AROUND 35 KNOTS.
TURBULENCE OVER THE VALLEY AND LOCAL MOUNTAIN RANGES WILL OCCUR
THROUGH SUNDAY DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS INTERACTING WITH THE TERRAIN..
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...THE GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY AND INTO
TONIGHT. THERE WILL BE FEW HOURS WHERE WINDS WILL SUBSIDE THIS
EVENING BUT WILL PICK BACK UP AS A STRONG LOW APPROACHES THE REGION.
WIND GUSTS IN THE 40-45 KNOT RANGE ARE LIKELY SUNDAY.
LOW LEVEL TURBULENCE IS LIKELY DUE TO STRONG WINDS OVER ROUGH
TERRAIN. MOUNTAIN WAVE ACTION IS ALSO LIKELY IN THE LEE OF THE
HIGHER MOUNTAIN RANGES AS WELL.
&&
.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR
NVZ018-019.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR NVZ016-020>022.
AZ...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM MST SUNDAY FOR AZZ001-003-036.
CA...WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR
CAZ519-520.
WIND ADVISORY FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ525-526.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ523-524.
&&
MORGAN/PIERCE/JACQUES
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGASThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred 1 mile S of Mercury.
This gust occurred 3 miles SSW of Mercury.
This gust occurred 34 miles E of Beatty.
This gust occurred 3 miles SSW of Mercury.
This gust occurred 1 mile S of Mercury.
This gust occurred 1 mile ESE of Red Rock Canyon.
This gust occurred 33 miles E of Beatty.
Several 8-10 foot trees were blown down, and a large sign was destroyed in the extreme southwest corner of the Las Vegas Valley.
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: 192064, 192066, 192067, 192068, 192069, 192070, 192072, 192071.