Another storm system brought locally high winds, rain and snow, and patchy dense fog to the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
Another storm system brought locally high winds, rain and snow, and patchy dense fog 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 Dec 12, 2:20 AM PST, 5 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 220 AM PST FRI DEC 12 2014 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT BRINGING WITH IT GUSTY WINDS AS WELL AS WIDESPREAD RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN TO IMPROVE SATURDAY BEFORE DRY CONDITIONS RESUME SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM BRINGS A RENEWED CHANCE FOR RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ON TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE INTO NEXT WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY...BETWEEN 09Z AND 10Z THIS MORNING RADAR AND SATELLITE TRENDS INDICATED THAT LIGHT PRECIPITATION WAS BEGINNING TO FALL OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA OF INYO COUNTY. PRECIPITATION INTENSITY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THERE OVER THE NEXT 2-3 HOURS AS A BAND OF ENHANCED LIFT PUSHES INTO THE REGION. THIS BAND IS ASSOCIATED WITH A VIGOROUS TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED JUST OFF THE WEST COAST AS OF THIS WRITING. AS THIS TROUGH PROGRESSES EAST TODAY SO WILL A WELL DEFINED BAND OF PRECIPITATION. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE OUT AHEAD OF THIS BAND....MOST NOTABLY ACROSS LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTIES WHERE A WIND ADVISORY IS IN PLACE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THIS BAND OF PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE REGION FAIRLY QUICKLY...LIMITING OVERALL QPF AMOUNTS...NONETHELESS AMOUNTS OF 0.2-0.5 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS MOST AREAS BELOW 4-5KFT IN ELEVATION WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN [ESPECIALLY IN THE SIERRA WHERE OVER AN INCH IS LIKELY]. SNOW LEVELS ARE STILL EXPECTED TO FALL THROUGH THE DAY FROM ROUGHLY 7500 TO 5000 FEET IN THE SIERRA AND FROM 8000 TO 6500 FEET IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CLARK COUNTY. AS A RESULT NO CHANGES APPEAR TO BE NECESSARY TO ANY CURRENT WARNING/ADVISORY PRODUCTS AND ONLY MINOR TWEAKS WERE MADE TO THE GOING FORECAST THIS MORNING. FOR LAS VEGAS...CONFIDENCE IS STILL RELATIVELY HIGH THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL OCCUR FROM 10AM TO 4PM WITH THE MOST INTENSE RAINFALL OCCURRING IN THE FIRST 1-3 HOURS AFTER DROPS BEGIN TO FALL. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT A WET AND SLOW-GOING EVENING COMMUTE. AS THE BAND OF PRECIP EXISTS TO THE EAST FRIDAY NIGHT A SECONDARY BAND OF PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH A TIGHT FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS SHOWN TO BRUSH AT LEAST ESMERALDA...NYE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WITH THIS BAND SHOULD BE LIGHTER HOWEVER WITH LOWER SNOW LEVELS WE WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO TRAVEL IN THOSE AREAS. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN PLACE FOR PORTIONS OF LINCOLN COUNTY STILL LOOKS GOOD. OUTSIDE OF THIS AREA OF POSSIBLE PRECIPITATION CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE RELATIVELY QUICKLY SATURDAY AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE REGION. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY ACTIVE/PROGRESSIVE PATTERN THROUGH THE PERIOD. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA SUNDAY WILL MOVE EAST MONDAY AS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVES JUST INLAND INTO CALIFORNIA LATE IN THE DAY. THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF HIGH CLOUD COVER OUT AHEAD OF THE SHORTWAVE OVER OUR FORECAST AREA WHILE DEEPER MOISTURE WORKS INTO THE SIERRA LEADING TO A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS MONDAY AFTERNOON. IT LOOKS LIKE TEMPERATURES SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL BE CLOSE TO NORMAL AND NO SIGNIFICANT WINDS ARE EXPECTED. THE MODELS DIVERGE BEGINNING TUESDAY AND ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THURSDAY. HOWEVER THEY ALL AGREE THAT IT WILL BE GENERALLY UNSETTLED DURING THE THREE DAY PERIOD. I LOOKS LIKE THAT FIRST SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT WITH ANOTHER...PERHAPS DEEPER AND SLOWER MOVING TROUGH RIGHT ON IT'S HEELS TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE ECMWF THEN DROPS YET ANOTHER SHORTWAVE DOWN OVER THE AREA FROM THE NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. SO WE ARE BASICALLY LOOKING AT A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS OVER MOST OF THE CWA MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH AT LEAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND PERHAPS EVEN THROUGH THURSDAY. AS USUAL THE BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION WILL BE OVER THE MOUNTAINS BUT PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AND TIMING OF HEAVIER PRECIPITATION IS DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN AT THIS TIME. SNOW LEVELS LOOK TO BE GENERALLY BETWEEN 5000 AND 6000 FEET WITH POTENTIAL FOR LOWERING TO ABOUT 4500 FEET AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY IF THE ECMWF VERIFIES WITH THAT THIRD TROUGH DROPPING DOWN WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR A BIT BELOW NORMAL TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...BKN-OVC SKIES AOA 20KFT EXPECTED INTO THIS MORNING WITH INCREASING SOUTHERLY WINDS JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE. A BAND OF RAIN AND GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL IMPACT THE AIRFIELD TODAY...LIKELY BETWEEN 18Z-00Z WITH LOWERING CIGS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS. THERE IS A CHANCE OF CIGS TEMPORARILY LOWERING TO 500-1000 FEET DURING HEAVIEST RAINFALL WITH CIGS 3K-5K FEET DURING LIGHTER RAIN. CIGS ARE EXPECTED TO RISE BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...IF NOT EARLIER. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SOUTHERLY WINDS GUSTING TO 20-30 KTS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION TODAY AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. PRECIPITATION BEGAN TO SPREAD ACROSS THE SIERRA SHORTLY AFTER 09Z THIS MORNING AND A WELL DEFINED PRECIPITATION BAND IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION THROUGH THE DAY INTO THIS EVENING. LOW CLOUDS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE EXPECTED AS THE BAND MOVES THROUGH. CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE THROUGH SATURDAY ACROSS THE REGION ALTHOUGH SNOW SHOWERS MAY LINGER THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES THROUGH SATURDAY. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...WOLCOTT LONG TERM.............HARRISON FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow, 1 high wind, 1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Isolated high winds occurred at Indian Springs (KINS) ahead of the main band of rain.
An estimated eight to 10 inches of snow fell at Lida Summit, with two to three inches in Goldfield. Highway 266 was closed for a time until plows could clear it.
The observer on Mount Charleston measured eight inches of snow.
A NWS employee reported patchy dense fog along the 215 Beltway, with visibility near zero at the Charleston exit.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 2014
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: 545169, 545170, 545759, 545760.