Two people died of heat stress on days with high temperatures of 106 and 109 degrees.
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.
Two people died of heat stress on days with high temperatures of 106 and 109 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 Aug 14, 7:40 PM PST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 840 PM PDT WED AUG 14 2013 .SYNOPSIS...TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE SLIGHTLY INTO THE WEEKEND AS AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. THIS PATTERN WILL ALSO BRING LIMITED MOISTURE UP FROM NORTHWEST MEXICO RESULTING IN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA FRIDAY THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .UPDATE...SKIES HAVE GENERALLY CLEARED OVER MUCH OF THE AREA WITH JUST A FEW CLOUDS REMAINING AROUND NEEDLES. THESE SHOULD CONTINUE TO DISSIPATE THIS EVENING. ONLY CHANGES MADE WERE TO LOWER SKY COVER OVER THE FAR SOUTH...OTHERWISE FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... 325 PM PDT WED AUG 14 2013 .SHORT TERM...THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...SATELLITE LOOPS SHOWED A GRADUAL PATTERN CHANGE THOUGH SENSIBLE WEATHER WILL REMAIN FAIRLY SIMILAR OVER THE NEXT 24-36 HOURS. AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE NEAR THE SOUTHERN ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER WILL SLOWLY MIGRATE TOWARD ARIZONA. THE MOST NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE WILL BE THE RETURN OF SOME MID LEVEL CLOUDS IN THE SKY THURSDAY AS MOISTURE OVER NORTHWEST MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA SLOWLY WORKS ITS WAY NORTHWARD. DEWPOINT INCREASES IN THE 60S AND 70S FROM YUMA TO BLYTHE THAT OCCURRED THIS MORNING HAVE SINCE MIXED OUT INTO THE UPPER 30S AND MID 40S. LOOKING UPSTREAM...CONVECTION WAS BEGINNING TO FIRE OVER NORTHERN MEXICO AND WILL NEED TO SEE HOW MUCH MOISTURE THESE STORMS CAN THROW OUR WAY IN THE RETURNING MONSOONAL FLOW. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MOISTURE CONTINUES TO ADVECT INTO THE AREA ON FRIDAY WITH THE 12Z NAM INDICATING MORE MID-LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE IN PLACE BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. FORECAST NAM/GFS SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT BEST INSTABILITY WILL BE ELEVATED AND SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM OFF THE HIGHER TERRAIN FRIDAY. DRY AIR STILL IN PLACE AT THE LOWER LEVELS SUGGESTS WIND AND LIGHTNING THAT MAY CAUSE FIRE STARTS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP. MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE ON SATURDAY ON THE HANDLING OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHING THE WEST COAST. THE ECMWF IS THE ODD ONE OUT BY MOVING THE TROUGH INTO THE GREAT BASIN SUNDAY. THE GFS/GEM TURN THE TROUGH INTO A CUT-OFF LOW NEAR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST. HOWEVER...ALL MODELS KEEP MOISTURE LIMITED TO OVER MOHAVE COUNTY...THUS DECIDED TO KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF AZ AND LINCOLN COUNTY SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES INCREASE ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE AREA BUT THEN DECREASE SLIGHTLY HEADING INTO NEXT WEEK. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE 12Z GFS AND ECMWF WERE AGAIN SHOWING RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY CONCERNING A LOW/TROUGH MOVING INTO THE WEST COAST MONDAY BUT MODEL TO MODEL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO REMAIN FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT. THE GFS HAS A CLOSED LOW OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS. THESE TWO FEATURES COMBINE TO BRING AN EMBEDDED UPPER LEVEL IMPULSE AND ITS ASSOCIATED MOISTURE/INSTABILITY NORTH ACROSS THE EASTERN CWA. IN CONTRAST...THE ECMWF CONTINUES TO SHOW A WEAK OPEN TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND IN TURN DOWNPLAYS THE STRENGTH OF RIDGING TO THE EAST AND OFFERS NO SIGN OF THE UPPER DISTURBANCE FORECAST BY THE GFS. AT THIS POINT...STILL LOOKING AT A DAY 6 FORECAST FOR MONDAY SO STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO REACT WHEN A COMMON SOLUTION PRESENTS ITSELF. GRID ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE MAINLY TO BLEND WITH NEIGHBORS RATHER THAN TO SHOW ANY INCREASING FORECAST CONFIDENCE. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SOUTHEAST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SOUTHWEST DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. A SIMILAR CYCLE SHOULD REPEAT THURSDAY WITH EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS RETURNING BY EARLY AFTERNOON. SUSTAINED SPEEDS WILL BE AROUND 10 KNOTS WITH OCCASIONAL HIGHER GUSTS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. A CLEAR SKY OVERNIGHT WILL GIVE WAY TO FEW-SCT CLOUDS AOA 12KFT THURSDAY AFTERNOON. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...WINDS IN THE 5 TO 15 KT RANGE ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY ACROSS THE AREA FAVORING TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTIONAL TRENDS. MOST OF THE AREA WILL SEE CLEAR SKIES OVERNIGHT THEN FEW-SCT CLOUDS WILL BE OBSERVED AOA 12K FEET ACROSS THE REGION. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && GORELOW/ADAIR/SALMEN/STUMPF FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 400 AM PDT WED AUG 14 2013 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-150200- 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- 400 AM PDT WED AUG 14 2013 /400 AM MST WED AUG 14 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO WEATHER HAZARDS ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME FOR THURSDAY. A MODEST INFLUX OF MONSOON MOISTURE FRIDAY WILL LEAD TO ISOLATED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. LITTLE RAINFALL IS EXPECTED BUT WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND DRY LIGHTNING COULD OCCUR. LIMITED MONSOON MOISTURE WILL REMAIN MAINLY OVER MOHAVE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY FOR A CONTINUED THREAT OF ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST OVER THE WEEKEND WILL AID IN GENERATING ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN INYO AND ESMERALDA COUNTIES AS WELL. .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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Two people died of heat stress.
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 | 2013-08-15 | 67 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2013-08-17 | 88 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, August 2013
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: 470766.