Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat criteria two days in a row. Two people died a few days later of heat-related causes.
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.
Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat criteria two days in a row. Two people died a few days later of heat-related causes.
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 16, 7:55 AM PST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 855 AM PDT SUN AUG 16 2015 .SYNOPSIS...VERY HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BEFORE GRADUAL COOLING BEGINS. MAINLY DRY AND OCCASIONALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. && .UPDATE...HOT AND DRY TODAY. THE MORNING SOUNDING FOR LAS VEGAS SHOWED ABOUT 1 DEGREE CELSIUS OF WARMING AT 700 MB AND 3 DEGREES OF WARMING AT 850 MB COMPARED TO YESTERDAY MORNING. THIS SUPPORTS THE WARMER MAX TEMPERATURES WE ARE FORECASTING AND THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING. NO UPDATED NEEDED THIS MORNING. -HARRISON- && .PREV DISCUSSION... 300 AM PDT SUN AUG 16 2015 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. A STRONG AREA OF UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE WEST TODAY...BECOMING CENTERED OVER THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY BY THIS EVENING. THIS WILL RESULT IN AN INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES OVER THOSE SEEN YESTERDAY AREA WIDE. THE HIGH WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY SLIDE WEST THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK AND SHOULD ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO DECREASE BY A DEGREE OR TWO MONDAY. MODELS HAVE WEAKENED THE INFLUENCE OF A SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY IN THE WEEK. THIS WILL HELP KEEP HEIGHTS (AND THEREFORE TEMPERATURES) ELEVATED THROUGH ROUGHLY WEDNESDAY. BOTH ECMWF AND GFS 00Z GUIDANCE HAS TRENDED WARMER FOR TUESDAY (AND WEDNESDAY) AND AS A RESULT I HAVE BUMPED UP TEMPS THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD. WITH FORECAST HIGHS NOW MEETING EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING CRITERIA THROUGH WEDNESDAY I HAVE EXTENDED THE WARNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. OUTSIDE OF THE HEAT...TYPICAL LIGHT SURFACE WINDS ARE EXPECTED WITH JUST A FEW HIGH CLOUDS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES. SMOKE FROM FIRES IN THE SIERRA MAY CONTINUE TO CREATE SMOKE CONCERNS IN THE OWENS VALLEY AND I CURRENTLY HAVE SMOKE IN THE FORECAST THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE LATEST MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ALL INDICATE A FAST MOVING SHORT WAVE DROPPING INTO THE NORTHWEST STATES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY THOUGH THEY VARY CONSIDERABLY WITH THE TRACK AND TIMING OF THIS FEATURE. IN ANY CASE...THIS PATTERN WILL LEAD TO A BROAD MEAN TROUGH DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN STATES. THE STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE FORECAST TO BE OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL GRADUALLY BE PUSHED SOUTHWARD. HOWEVER...IT WILL HANG OVER THE MOJAVE DESERT REGION LONG ENOUGH THAT THERE WILL BE LITTLE RELIEF FROM EXCESSIVELY HIGH TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY WITH HIGHS ONLY DROPPING A DEGREE OR SO FROM THE PREVIOUS FEW DAYS. A DOWNWARD TREND WILL BE MORE NOTICEABLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH THE LATEST GUIDANCE INDICATING HIGHS WILL LOWER 3-5 DEGREES F EACH DAY AND TREND BACK DOWN TO NORMAL BY SATURDAY. A RIDGE IS THEN FORECAST TO BUILD OVER THE GREAT BASIN REGION NEXT WEEKEND BEHIND THE EXITING TROUGH...SO TEMPERATURES SHOULD BEGIN TRENDING UPWARD AGAIN BY SUNDAY. THIS PATTERN WILL KEEP DRY NORTHWEST TO WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE REGION DURING THE PERIOD WITH NO REAL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNING TO THE FORECAST AREA. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS FORECAST TO INCREASE OVER NORTHWEST ARIZONA FRIDAY IN LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH BUT IT SHOULD BE TOO SHALLOW TO RESULT IN ANY SIGNIFICANT CONVECTION. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...MAINLY LIGHT WINDS FAVORING TYPICAL DIURNAL TRENDS THROUGH MONDAY. HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEK. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...TYPICAL DIURNAL WINDS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY. HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...WOLCOTT LONG TERM.............ADAIR FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1218 PM PDT SUN AUG 16 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0300 PM FLASH FLOOD SANDY VALLEY 35.80N 115.60W
08/13/2015 CLARK NV PUBLIC
SEVERAL INCHES OF WATER...MUD AND DEBRIS WAS OBSERVED
FLOWING THROUGH YARDS AND A HORSE FARM IN SANDY VALLEY.
THE EVENT TIME IS AN ESTIMATE.
&&
DELAYED REPORT.
STACHELSKIThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat Warning criteria two days in a row with highs of 110F. Two people died a few days later of heat-related causes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2015-08-20 | 55 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2015-08-19 | 74 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, August 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: 594675.