One man was killed by an avalanche in a remote area of the Sierra just east of the crest. The exact date is unknown.
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.
One man was killed by an avalanche in a remote area of the Sierra just east of the crest. The exact date is unknown.
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 Nov 9, 10:10 PM PST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1010 PM PST MON NOV 9 2015 .SYNOPSIS...A STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SHOWERS AND ACCUMULATING MOUNTAIN SNOW TO PORTIONS OF THE SIERRA AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN THROUGH TUESDAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED AREA WIDE TUESDAY ALONG WITH BREEZY NORTHWEST WINDS. DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY ONWARD WITH A SLOW WARMING TREND BUT TEMPERATURES REMAINING A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN NORMAL. && .UPDATE...WINDS HAVE DIMINISHED THIS EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NYE AND WESTERN CLARK COUNTY AND THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THOSE LOCATIONS HAS EXPIRED. SO FAR THIS EVENING PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP...BUT SATELLITE IMAGERY IS STARTING TO SHOW SOME CLOUD ENHANCEMENT ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. THE CURRENT WINTER WEATHER AND WIND PRODUCTS STILL LOOK GOOD AND NO UPDATES ARE NEEDED AT THIS TIME. && PREV DISCUSSION... 245 PM PST MON NOV 9 2015 .SHORT TERM...THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. A FAIRLY POTENT STORM SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE AREA WITH AN ARCING CLOUD SHIELD AND COLD CLOUD TOPS NOTED OVER THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN SIERRA WHILE COLD AIR CUMULUS FILLS IN BEHIND THE LOW. THIS ARCING CLOUD SHIELD ROUGHLY MARKS THE LOCATION OF THE CLOSED LOW WHICH WILL AIM FOR SOUTHERN NEVADA TONIGHT BEFORE LIFTING INTO SOUTHERN UTAH BY TOMORROW EVENING. MAIN IMPACTS WITH THIS SYSTEM THUS FAR HAS BEEN WIND...WITH AREAS ACROSS SOUTHERN NYE COUNTY COMMONLY GUSTING OVER 40 MPH TODAY...WITH STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS OBSERVED IN THE SPRING RANGE AS WELL. WINDS ACROSS THE SIERRA HAVE BEEN GUSTY TODAY BUT GENERALLY BELOW ANY ADVISORY THRESHOLDS SO I WENT AHEAD AND CANCELLED THE WIND ADVISORY FOR THE EASTERN SIERRA EARLY. ELSEWHERE...BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN COMMON BUT GUSTS HAVE GENERALLY STAYED BELOW 40 MPH. TONIGHT...CLOSED LOW CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL PROGRESS SOUTHEAST TO BE LOCATED NEAR BISHOP BY SUNRISE. THIS SHOULD INDUCE IN A PERIOD OF ENHANCED SNOWFALL ALONG THE SIERRA CREST BEGINNING THIS EVENING AND LASTING THROUGH THE NIGHT WHERE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOWFALL IS LIKELY. MEANWHILE...A BAND OF CONCENTRATED RAIN AND SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FORM LATE THIS EVENING AND PERSIST OVERNIGHT ALONG THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN...ROUGHLY FROM NEAR SILVER PEAK TO TONOPAH NORTHWARD TO ELY. THIS POSES A CHALLENGE TO ANTICIPATE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AS A TIGHT GRADIENT MAY SET UP BETWEEN THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS. IN ANY CASE...ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW WILL BE A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY FOR AREAS ABOVE 5000 FEET IN ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES. ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW AND ROADWAY ICE SHOULD BE ANTICIPATED IF TRAVELING ON US-95 BETWEEN TONOPAH AND GOLDFIELD AS WELL AS TONOPAH TO COALDALE. ONE PARTICULAR AREA OF CONCERN IS GOLDFIELD PASS WHERE TWO TO FOUR INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS LOW AS 4000 FEET. TOMORROW...TROUGH WILL PUSH EASTWARD WITH PRECIPITATION CHANCES DWINDLING WITH SOUTHWARD EXTENT. SOME SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE A GOOD POSSIBILITY IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AND SHEEP RANGE ABOVE 5000 FEET..AS WELL AS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT (PERHAPS 1 TO 3 INCHES AT BEST). CHANCES FOR RAIN IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS SUCH AS LAS VEGAS AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY LOOK QUITE SLIM...BUT A STRAY SHOWER HERE AND THERE WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL FILTER IN BEHIND THE STORM AND WILL BE FAIRLY STRONG ACROSS OUR NORTHWESTERN ZONES...PARTICULARLY ACROSS CENTRAL NYE AND ESMERALDA COUNTIES WHERE WIND GUSTS WILL EXCEED 40 MPH IN SOME PLACES. IVE POSTED A WIND ADVISORY TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. COOL TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED TUESDAY...WITH HIGHS AVERAGING 10 TO 12 DEGREES BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. A DRY NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE DEPARTING STORM SYSTEM ON WEDNESDAY. THIS PATTERN WILL KEEP OUR FORECAST AREA DRY BUT NOT DEVOID OF CLOUD COVER AS PERIODS OF PASSING HIGH CLOUDS SHOULD BE EXPECTED. A WEAK SHORTWAVE MAY DIVE SOUTHWARD TOWARDS ARIZONA BY LATE IN THE WEEK AND ENHANCE NORTHERLY WINDS ACROSS THE AREA (PARTICULARLY ALONG THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER). TODAYS MODELS RUNS HAVE TRENDED WEAKER AND LESS SIGNIFICANT WITH THIS FEATURE SO CONFIDENCE ON ITS DEVELOPMENT IS NOT HIGH. OTHERWISE...DRY CONDITIONS WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL SHOULD BE ANTICIPATED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SOUTHWEST WINDS 17-22 KTS WITH GUSTS 25- 30 KTS THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON THEN DECREASING TO 12- 16 KTS WITH PERIODIC GUSTS TO AROUND 20 KTS TONIGHT. WINDS WILL TREND MORE TO THE WEST OR NORTHWEST TUESDAY REGAINING STRENGTH BY MID TUESDAY AFTERNOON. FEW-SCT CLOUDS AOA 10K FEET THROUGH TONIGHT THEN FEW-SCT AROUND 6K FEET AND BKN AROUND 10K FEET TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. EXPECT MECHANICAL TURBULANCE THROUGH THE PERIOD. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...FOR KBIH...SOUTHWEST WINDS 15-25 KTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 KTS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS DECREASING TO 10-20 KTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 KTS TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION ON TUESDAY WITH WINDS TURNING TO THE NORTH OR NORTHWEST. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA. MECHANICAL TURBULENCE IS LIKELY DOWNSTREAM OF THE SIERRA AND SPRING MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE PERIOD. FEW-SCT CLOUDS AOA 6K FEET THROUGH THE NIGHT EXCEPT SCT-BKN AOA 6K FEET WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS IN THE SIERRA THROUGH TONIGHT AND ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA LATER TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY HOWEVER...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && SHORT TERM/LONG TERM...OUTLER AVIATION.....SALMEN 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 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
One man was killed by an avalanche in the high Sierra. The exact date and time are unknown; it is believed that the avalanche occurred sometime between the 9th and the 17th.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County | 2015-11-10 | 25 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, November 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: 602989.