The Round Fire began in far northern Inyo County and spread northwest into Mono County on strong southerly winds.
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.
The Round Fire began in far northern Inyo County and spread northwest into Mono County on strong southerly winds.
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 Feb 6, 12:24 PM PST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1224 PM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING INCREASING WINDS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ESPECIALLY TO THE EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES...OWENS VALLEY AND SPRING MOUNTAINS. THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO BRING AND INCREASING CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW IN THE SIERRA AND WHITE MOUNTAINS LATE THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE NORMAL INTO THE WEEKEND. && .UPDATE...EXPANDED THE WIND ADVISORY TO INCLUDE ALL OF INYO COUNTY...ESMERALDA COUNTY AND CENTRAL NYE. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING DUST HAS BEEN EVIDENT ON THE DYER WEBCAM. ADDITIONALLY...NICE ROTOR CLOUD DEVELOPING AND EVIDENT ON SATELLITE IMAGERY IN THE OWENS VALLEY. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...MAINLY BKN HIGH CLOUDS ABOVE 25K FEET CAN BE EXPECTED INTO THIS EVENING. SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE ALOFT THIS AFTERNOON WITH A LIGHT EAST FLOW AT MCCARRAN THIS AFTERNOON. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE SLIGHTLY THIS EVENING WITH SPEEDS BETWEEN 10-15 KTS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...BKN-OVC HIGH CLOUDS AT 25K CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT WITH CIGS LOWERING TO AOB FL050 IN THE OWENS VALLEY OVERNIGHT. STRONG WINDS HAVE BEEN INCREASING IN THE EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS ARE LIKELY INTO THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE OWENS VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE SHOULD BE ANTICIPATED. A ROTOR CLOUD IS ALREADY EVIDENT FORMING DOWN THE OWENS VALLEY AND SHOULD PERSIST INTO THE EVENING. RAIN WILL THEN SPREAD INTO THE SIERRA OVERNIGHT WITH SHOWERS POTENTIALLY INTO THE OWENS VALLEY LATE TONIGHT AND DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. && .PREV UPDATE...MAIN ISSUE TODAY WILL BE THE WINDS IN INYO COUNTY. WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO INCREASE IN THE SIERRA AND UP THE OWENS VALLEY. BLOWING DUST HAS BEGUN TO APPEAR IN SEVERAL OF THE WEBCAMS IN THE VICINITY OF OWENS LAKE. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED FROM MID AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. THE WIND ADVISORIES AND HIGH WIND WARNINGS LOOK GOOD...BUT OVERALL THE WIND SPEEDS HAVE BEEN TRENDING SLIGHTLY LOWER OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS. REST OF THE FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE. && PREV DISCUSSION 314 AM PST FRI FEB 6 2015 .SHORT TERM... TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST TODAY AS A TROUGH APPROACHES THE WEST COAST. RAIN IS CURRENTLY FALLING OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND WILL EVENTUALLY SPREAD SOUTH DURING THE DAY. A STRONG 130-140KT JET WILL PUSH INTO CALIFORNIA DURING THE DAY AND BRING STRONG WINDS TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HIRES MODELS ARE NOT AS IMPRESSIVE WITH THE DOWNSLOPE POTENTIAL ACROSS THE EASTERN SIERRA AND OWENS VALLEY AS THEY WERE A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO...HOWEVER GUSTY WINDS ARE STILL POSSIBLE OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE OWENS VALLEY WITH STRONGER WINDS OVER THE EAST SLOPES. THE CURRENT ADVISORIES/WARNINGS STILL LOOK GOOD AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES. PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST TO SPREAD INTO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA THIS EVENING WHICH WILL BRING AN END TO THE GUSTY WINDS. MOST OF THE RAIN WILL BE SHADOWED BY THE SIERRA WITH THE WESTERN SLOPES RECEIVING THE GREATEST AMOUNTS. SOME RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE INTO THE OWENS VALLEY LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...BUT OVERALL AMOUNTS LOOK TO BE LIGHT. THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH IT AND SNOW LEVELS LOOK TO REMAIN ABOVE 8000 FEET THROUGH THE ENTIRE EVENT. DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT TONIGHT OVER THE EAST SLOPE OF THE SHEEP RANGE AND PORTIONS OF RED ROCK CANYON. WINDS TO NOT LOOK TO BE THAT SIGNIFICANT AND THE CURRENT ADVISORY SHOULD HANDLE IT. A SECOND BATCH OF RAIN IS EXPECTED TO HIT THE SIERRA SUNDAY AFTERNOON...BUT LIKE THE FIRST MOST IS EXPECTED TO BE SHADOWED BY THE SIERRA WITH LITTLE RAINFALL TO THE EAST. SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN REMAIN HIGH WITH THIS SECOND AREA OF RAINFALL WITH LEVELS AROUND 8000 FEET OR HIGHER. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE NORMAL OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS...ALTHOUGH THEY MAY COOL JUST A COUPLE OF DEGREES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. A VERTICALLY STACKED OR NEARLY VERTICALLY STACKED AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ONSHORE BY LATE MONDAY ALONG THE COAST OF WASHINGTON PUSHING A TROUGH AXIS ACROSS OUR AREA. THE BULK OF MAIN FORCING AND MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO PASS BY TO THE NORTH OF OUR AREA, HOWEVER, SOME LIGHT PRECIPITATION CANNOT BE RULED OUT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN, ESPECIALLY IN THE PANHANDLE OF LINCOLN COUNTY DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE OPERATIONAL GFS CONTINUES TO BE LESS ENTHUSED ABOUT QPF WITH THIS TROUGH COMPARED TO THE OPERATIONAL RUNS OF THE ECMWF AND GEM SO POPS WERE KEPT AT SLIGHT CHANCE. WINDS SHOULD INCREASE FROM THE SOUTHWEST BY LATE IN THE MORNING ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT AND IT APPEARS ANY INVERSION THAT IS AROUND AT THE START OF THE DAY SHOULD BREAK BY THE AFTERNOON. THIS WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO SOAR AND NEAR RECORD HIGHS ARE A GOOD POSSIBILITY FOR LAS VEGAS (THE RECORD HIGH THEN IS 77). AS A RESULT, WE CONTINUED TO SIDE WITH THE WARMER END OF GUIDANCE FOR HIGHS WHICH WAS SUPPORTED BY THE WARMER GFS BUFR SOUNDINGS. GUSTS OF 20-30 MPH ARE POSSIBLE THAT AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE TROUGH AXIS IS EXPECTED TO TAKE ON A POSITIVE TILT ON TUESDAY AS IT SLIDES EAST ACROSS THE REGION WITH ENERGY WITHIN THE TROUGH FORMING A CLOSED LOW NEAR SOUTHERN UTAH THAT EVENTUALLY HEADS ON SOUTH. INITIALLY THIS LOW APPEARS TO JUST BRING TEMPS BACK DOWN SEVERAL DEGREES (PLACING HIGHS MORE IN THE 6-8 DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL RANGE FOR TUESDAY). FURTHER COOLING AND GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS ARE EXPECTED FOR WEDNESDAY WITH HIGHS NEAR NORMAL. BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY, THE LOW SHOULD BE OVER WESTERN ARIZONA OR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA WHERE IT STARTS TO DRAW MOISTURE ON NORTH. THE 00Z OPERATIONAL GFS CONTINUES TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE AT WRAPPING MOISTURE INTO THE CIRCULATION OF THE LOW COMPARED TO THE 00Z OPERATIONAL ECMWF AND GEM AND ALSO GENERATES QPF MUCH FURTHER TO THE WEST. FOR NOW, WE WENT WITH A BLEND OF THE MODELS BUT DID INTRODUCE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER THE SOUTHEAST CWFA FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY AND ALSO ADJUSTED UP CLOUD COVER AS FAR NORTH AS LAS VEGAS. THIS EVENT WILL BE TRICKY AS A SHIFT IN THE LOW BY A HUNDRED MILES OF SO WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE AS TO WHERE CLOUDS AND PRECIP ARE AT AND I SUSPECT THE MODELS WILL GO THROUGH SEVERAL MORE RUNS PLACING THE LOW IN A WIDE VARIETY OF PLACES. OVERALL TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN CLOSER TO NORMAL WITH DRY CONDITIONS MORE OF A CERTAINTY THE FURTHER NORTH AND WEST ONE GOES IN THE AREA. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED BUT ANY REPORTS OF HIGH WINDS OR BLOWING DUST FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT WOULD BE APPRECIATED. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...CZYZYK LONG TERM...STACHELSKI FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Round Fire began in the far northern Owens Valley north of Bishop and west of Highway 395. Strong southerly winds spread the fire generally north and west into Mono County. Only one structure, a hay shed, was destroyed in Inyo County. Much more damage occurred in Mono County.
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, February 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: 557871.