At least four dust devils developed over the Las Vegas Valley in the afternoon, causing significant damage.
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.
At least four dust devils developed over the Las Vegas Valley in the afternoon, causing significant damage.
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 May 7, 11:49 AM PST, 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1249 PM PDT MON MAY 7 2012 .SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WILL BRING BREEZY PERIODS WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY TODAY. A FEW MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TUESDAY OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA. QUIET WEATHER IS EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY INTO THE WEEKEND...WITH LIGHTER WINDS AND TEMPERATURES RISING SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. && .UPDATE...THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE LAKE MEAD NRA WAS CANCELED. WIND GUSTS COULD NOT MANAGE TO GET ABOVE 40 MPH ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY AND THE DECREASING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT SHOULD KEEP SPEEDS BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS THE REST OF THE DAY. OBSERVATIONS SHOWING WIND GUSTS AROUND 35 MPH FROM UNION PASS RAWS TO NEEDLES MARGINALLY SUPPORT THE RED FLAG WARNING SO WILL KEEP IT IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM. PREV UPDATE...1030 AM PDT...NORTH WINDS HAVE INCREASED ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY THIS MORNING BUT ARE STILL STRUGGLING TO GUST OVER 35 MPH IN THE MORE WIND PRONE SPOTS LIKE LAUGHLIN-BULLHEAD. THE CIRCULATION OVER SOUTHEAST UTAH COULD BE SEEN ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY ALREADY DROPPING INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA AND THIS SHOULD ENHANCE WINDS FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH IT WAS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH BUT WILL WORK INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND CANNOT RULE OUT A FEW SHOWERS AND MAYBE A LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO. THE LATEST MODEL WIND FORECASTS CONTINUE TO SHOW DECREASING SPEEDS THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. WIND SPEEDS SHOULD REACH THEIR PEAK BETWEEN 18Z AND 21Z. THE LATEST OBSERVATIONS AND MODEL GUIDANCE SUPPORT THE GOING FORECAST TRENDS SO NO CHANGE IS NEEDED. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...WINDS BECOMING NORTH-NORTHEAST WITH GUSTS 18-28KTS. SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE THIS EVENING BUT REMAIN GUSTY UP TO 18KTS. GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...MAINLY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS ACROSS THE AREA TODAY WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS EXPECTED THROUGH 21Z. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 12-18 KTS AND GUSTS TO 30 KTS IN MOST AREAS EXCEPT IN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY WHERE SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20-30 KTS AND GUSTS 30-40 KTS ARE POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY FROM KIFP TO KEED. KDAG SHOULD SEE MAINLY WEST WINDS BEFORE WINDS TURN MORE NORTHWEST AND INCREASE TO 10-15 KTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS BY 19Z. GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. && .PREV DISCUSSION... 238 AM PDT MON MAY 7 2012 .SHORT TERM...SATELLITE LOOP SHOWED MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES EARLY THIS MORNING. SURFACE OBS SHOWED SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES AND LOCALLY GUSTY NORTH WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN NORTH SOUTH ORIENTED TERRAIN. WATER VAPOR SHOWED THE DEVELOPING SITUATION WELL. THE LOW WHICH WAS OVER MONTANA YESTERDAY WAS OVER SOUTHERN MANITOBA THIS MORNING...AND THE PIECE WHICH HAD SPLIT AWAY FROM IT WAS NEAR SALT LAKE CITY AND HEADING SOUTHWESTWARD INTO THE GENERAL LARGE SCALE TROUGHING OVER THE SOUTHWEST. THE PIECE NEAR SALT LAKE HAD ENTRAINED A LITTLE MOISTURE AS EXPECTED...AND WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF LINCOLN...CLARK AND MOHAVE COUNTIES THIS EVENING THROUGH TOMORROW BEFORE MOVING AWAY TO THE SOUTH AS RIDGING NOSES IN FROM THE PACIFIC TUESDAY NIGHT. IF ANY STORMS DEVELOP...THE MAIN THREAT WOULD PROBABLY BE DRY LIGHTNING AND STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS DUE TO VERY DRY LOW LEVEL AIR IN PLACE. SPEAKING OF WHICH...VERY LOW HUMIDITIES AND STRONG NORTH WINDS ARE STILL EXPECTED DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY TODAY...SO THE RED FLAG WARNING AND THE WIND ADVISORY LOOK GOOD. TEMPERATURES TODAY SHOULD BE QUITE SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY...WITH ABOUT FIVE DEGREES OF WARMING EXPECTED TOMORROW AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY AND RIDGING TAKES OVER. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY BRINGS A SHORTWAVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN ROCKIES AND COULD RESULT IN SOME HIGH CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE AREA AND POTENTIALLY SOME MODERATE NORTH WINDS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. ANOTHER WEAK WAVE ENTERS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FRIDAY AND THEN CARVES OUT A TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHWEST. ENSEMBLE SPAGHETTI PLOTS SHOW A WIDE VARIETY OF SOLUTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND BUT THEY ALL INVOLVE SOME TYPE OF TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. BASED ON THE LARGE SPREAD HOWEVER...DECIDED TO CONTINUE A DRY FORECAST AS THE TROUGH FEATURES VERY LITTLE MOISTURE AND ONLY WEAK DYNAMICS. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD ARE EXPECTED TO BE ON THE WARM SIDE OF NORMAL ALTHOUGH THERE COULD BE A COUPLE OF DEGREES TEMPERATURE DROP ON SUNDAY WITH THE TROUGH. && .FIRE WEATHER...NORTH WINDS GUSTING OVER 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON BEFORE GRADUALLY DECREASING THE REST OF THE DAY. THE MOST FAVORABLE AREA FOR GUSTS OVER 35 MPH WILL BE FROM DAVIS DAM TO NEAR NEEDLES. RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS THIS AFTERNOON...AND OBSERVED FIRE DANGER IS HIGH. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 8 AM TO 3 PM PDT TODAY FOR NVZ466. AZ...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 8 AM TO 3 PM MST TODAY FOR AZZ101. CA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 8 AM TO 3 PM PDT TODAY FOR CAZ229. && UPDATE...ADAIR AVIATION...JENSEN PREV DISCUSSION...MORGAN/SALMEN HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 211 AM PDT MON MAY 7 2012 AZZ002-036-CAZ527-NVZ021-080700- LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY-LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY-UPPER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY- 211 AM PDT MON MAY 7 2012 /211 AM MST MON MAY 7 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTH WINDS DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS BOATING CONDITIONS...DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS ON BRIDGES CROSSING THE RIVER...AND CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR RAPID FIRE GROWTH AND SPREAD. A WIND ADVISORY AND A RED FLAG WARNING ARE IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. AZZ001-003-CAZ519>526-NVZ014>020-022-080700- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-NORTHWEST DESERTS-EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES- OWENS VALLEY-WHITE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY- DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK-WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT- EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT-MORONGO BASIN-CADIZ BASIN- 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- 211 AM PDT MON MAY 7 2012 /211 AM MST MON MAY 7 2012/ 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...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MORGAN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 dust devil, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The dust devil tore shingles off the roof of a bank, damaged several cars, removed shingles from several roofs at an apartment complex, knocked down a cinder block wall and a light pole, and damaged several telephone poles.
Strong winds uprooted three trees in Henderson and tore a swamp cooler off the roof of a house in North Las Vegas.
The dust devil tore numerous tiles from the roof of a business, damaged a large ceramic fountain and a sign, and collapsed an awning.
The dust devil uprooted trees and then struck a retail store, tearing off part of the roof and breaking water lines to the building's sprinkler system. Power was also knocked out to about 2,000 customers.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, May 2012
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: 370641, 370644, 370642, 370643.