A potent spring storm system brought strong winds and thunderstorms to much of the Mojave Desert.
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.
A potent spring storm system brought strong winds and thunderstorms to much of the Mojave Desert.
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 Apr 24, 8:38 AM PST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 938 AM PDT FRI APR 24 2015 .SYNOPSIS...UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY WITH COOL TEMPERATURES WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. GREATEST CHANCES FOR RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA. IN ADDITION...STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT FRIDAY AND BECOME QUITE STRONG ON SATURDAY RESULTING IN AREAS OF BLOWING DUST. WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED NEXT WEEK. && .UPDATE...WEAK SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS NEVADA TODAY GENERATING ANOTHER ROUND OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE ACTIVITY IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS WIDESPREAD AS IT WAS YESTERDAY AND WILL MAINLY BE CONFINED TO THE EASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. PW VALUES ARE UP SLIGHTLY FROM 24 HOURS AGO AND SOME STORMS YESTERDAY DID PRODUCE NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN IN SPOTS...SO HEAVY RAIN WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT AND THE CURRENT WIND ADVISORY LOOKS GOOD. NO UPDATES AT THIS TIME. && PREV DISCUSSION 220 AM PDT FRI APR 24, 2015 .SHORT TERM...THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. VERY ACTIVE SPRING WEATHER IN PLAY AT THE MOMENT WITH A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES INFLUENCING THE REGION. NEXT SHORTWAVE TO AFFECT THE REGION WILL MOVE ACROSS NEVADA TODAY INITIATING ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY FOR OUR SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN ZONES. SOUTH OF THE GREAT BASIN...A FEW STRAY SHOWERS OR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BUT INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE WILL BE A LIMITING FACTOR. ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN...FAIRLY STRONG FRONTOGENISIS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORTWAVE WILL RESULT IN CONSIDERABLE SHOWER COVERAGE FOR OUR NORTHERN ZONES WHICH MAY PICK UP BETWEEN A TENTH AND A QUARTER OF INCH OF RAIN BY LATE FRIDAY EVENING. MEANWHILE FURTHER SOUTH...INCREASINGLY TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENTS WILL RESULT IN GUSTY WINDS DEVELOPING ACROSS SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE POSSIBLE IN ADDITION TO STRONG CROSSWINDS ON NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED ROADWAYS. ON SATURDAY...THE FINAL AND STRONGEST TROUGH OF THE SERIES WE HAVE OBSERVED THIS WEEK WILL DIVE INTO THE REGION. MODEL TRENDS HAVE CONSISTENTLY BEEN DEVELOPING THIS SYSTEM FURTHER AND FURTHER WEST WHICH RESULTS IN LARGER IMPACTS TO OUR REGION. NOW THE STRONGEST FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH TRACKS RIGHT ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA AND MAY SUPPORT SCATTERED SHOWER DEVELOPMENT ALMOST ANYWHERE. THE GREATEST CHANCES FOR RAINFALL STILL APPEAR TO BE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN...BUT WITH THE CORE OF THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY TRACKING ACROSS EASTERN CALIFORNIA AND INTO ARIZONA...FORCING AND INSTABILITY MAY BE ENOUGH TO GENERATE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT. A LOOK AT THE FORECAST SOUNDINGS FOR LAS VEGAS ON SATURDAY ALSO SUPPORT SHOWER ACTIVITY. FOR THESE REASONS ...I INCREASED POPS INTO THE SLIGHT CHANCE OR GREATER CATEGORY AREA WIDE FOR SATURDAY. THE OTHER CONCERN SATURDAY WILL BE WINDS. VERY STRONG WINDS AS A RESULT OF RAPID HEIGHT FALLS AND A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT ARE BEING INDICATED BY MOS GUIDANCE AND HIGH RES MODEL FORECASTS. GUIDANCE SUGGESTS WIND GUSTS IN THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT OF 55 TO 65 MPH. THIS IS WELL INTO THE HIGH WIND THRESHOLD AND WILL UNDOUBTEDLY LEAD TO BLOWING DUST CONCERNS AS WELL AS DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. STRONG WINDS MAY EXTEND EAST ACROSS EASTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY AND SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY AS WELL WHICH WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED FOR ADDITIONAL WIND HEADLINES. BY SATURDAY EVENING THE TROUGH WILL SHIFT EAST WITH PRECIPITATION MOVING INTO ARIZONA AND AWAY FROM OUR AREA. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY EASE OVERNIGHT AS WELL. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY. AT THE START OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD THE DEEP TROUGH THAT WILL PASS THROUGH OUR AREA SATURDAY WILL BE JUST EAST OF THE NEVADA-UTAH BORDER. THE MAJORITY OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE EAST OF OUR AREA SUNDAY, WITH JUST A 20-30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS ACROSS EASTERN MOHAVE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES FOR MAINLY THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY. THE BIGGER STORY WILL BE WIND. EXPECT GUSTY NORTH WINDS OF 20-30 MPH, WITH HIGHER GUSTS LIKELY ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. AS MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION, WIND HEADLINE PRODUCTS MAY BE NEEDED. SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN BELOW NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. GUSTY NORTH WINDS WILL LINGER INTO MONDAY, BUT WIND SPEEDS WILL DECREASE AS HIGH PRESSURE FULLY TAKES CONTROL TUESDAY. AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE AREA, TEMPERATURES WILL TREND MUCH WARMER. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL MONDAY BEFORE LIKELY CLIMBING 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT MOVING A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATE THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, BUT DIFFER ON THE STRENGTH. WE MAY SEE SOME BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS LATE IN THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...GENERALLY SOUTHERLY WINDS EXPECTED ONCE AGAIN TODAY WITH SPEEDS IN THE 15-20 KT RANGE AFTER 16Z. GUSTS MAY REACH UP TO 30 KTS AT TIMES. LESS SHOWER ACTIVITY EXPECTED TODAY THOUGH SOME AFTERNOON CUMULUS AND SCT-BKN MID LEVEL CLOUD COVER IS LIKELY BY THE MID AFTERNOON. WIND SPEEDS AFTER SUNSET WILL GRADUALLY EASE INTO THE 12-15KT RANGE WITH GUSTS TO 20 KTS OVERNIGHT. .FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...BREEZY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION WITH SOUTHWESTERLY SURFACE WINDS OF 15-20KTS AND GUSTS TO 30KTS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. STRONGER WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT NEAR KDAG WHERE SURFACE WINDS OF 25-35KTS AND GUSTS TO 40KTS ARE EXPECTED WITH AREAS OF BLOWING DUST POSSIBLE. SHOWER ACTIVITY CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY... THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN...AND NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY. SCT- BKN CUMULUS WITH BASES OF 7-10K EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && UPDATE...GORELOW SHORT TERM/AVIATION...OUTLER LONG TERM...PADDOCK 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.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust of 60 mph was recorded at Bicycle Lake ASOS.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2015
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: 567104.