A series of fast-moving cold fronts brought intermittent strong winds to the Mojave Desert for several days. Minor damage occurred.
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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 series of fast-moving cold fronts brought intermittent strong winds to the Mojave Desert for several days. Minor damage occurred.
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 10, 5:43 PM PST, 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 543 PM PST THU DEC 10 2015 .SYNOPSIS...BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY. CHANCES FOR RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT AND FRIDAY WHILE MUCH COOLER AIR ARRIVES BY FRIDAY. COOL...DRY AND BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED MOST OF THE WEEKEND BEFORE ANOTHER STORM BRINGS A GOOD CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. && .UPDATE...GONE AHEAD AND INCLUDED SOUTHERN NYE AND WESTERN CLARK COUNTY INTO THE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM PST FRIDAY. THERE HAS BEEN SEVERAL HOURS OF 40-50 MPH GUSTS LIKELY IMPACTING PARTS OF HIGHWAY 95 BETWEEN AMARGOSA VALLEY AND INDIAN SPRINGS. HI-RES MODELS INDICATE THOSE TYPE OF GUSTS COULD CONTINUE THROUGH MIDNIGHT OR 1 AM FRIDAY. && .PREV DISCUSSION...307 PM PST THU DEC 20 2015 .DISCUSSION...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY... THE 12Z MODELS WERE ACTUALLY IN PRETTY DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE PATTERN THROUGH THE PERIOD. WINDS HAVE BEEN INCREASING AS EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON...EVEN ON THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY. TEMPERATURES IN THOSE PARTS OF THE LV VALLEY THAT STARTED TO BLOW JUMPED INTO THE 70S WHILE MCCARRAN AIRPORT WAS STILL IN THE LOWER 60S. MEANWHILE ASPENDELL IN THE EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES WAS GETTING SOME SNOW BUT AT LAST CHECK IT WAS MELTING AS IT FELL. FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT DECENT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE OCCURRING AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS THERE. CURRENT WIND ADVISORIES AND THE WINTER STORM WARNING LOOK GOOD ALTHOUGH THE WINDS IN ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE WERE STRUGGLING TO REACH ADVISORY LEVEL SO FAR. THE SAME CONCERNS EXIST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT REGARDING WINDS IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS TO SPREAD OFF THE SPRING MOUNTAINS DOWN INTO THE WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY BUT CONFIDENCE IS STILL LOW WITH LARGE DIFFERENCES IN GUIDANCE AND I DECIDED NOT TO GO WITH AN ADVISORY. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A FEW GUSTS AROUND 40 MPH IN THE FAR WEST SIDE OF THE VALLEY HOWEVER. MEANWHILE...AS THE UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS CALIFORNIA INTO NEVADA TONIGHT...PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA NORTH OF LAS VEGAS...AND ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA FRIDAY. OUTSIDE OF THE SIERRA TONIGHT AND TOMORROW...THE BEST CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE FRIDAY ACROSS LINCOLN...CLARK AND NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTIES...ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS IN THOSE AREAS STILL DO NOT LOOK PARTICULARLY HIGH HOWEVER. TEMPERATURES FRIDAY WILL BE MUCH COOLER...DROPPING TO AROUND NORMAL. THE TROUGH AXIS WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT WITH PRECIPITATION CHANCES ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST. THIS WEEKEND LOOKS MAINLY DRY UNDER BRIEF RIDGING WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL. LOCALLY GUSTY NORTH WINDS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY WITH INCREASING SOUTH/SOUTHWEST WINDS SUNDAY AHEAD OF THE NEXT UPPER TROUGH. THIS NEXT SYSTEM MAY BRING A CHANCE OF SNOW TO THE SIERRA BY LATE SUNDAY. THIS SYSTEM LOOKS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO THE ONE IMPACTING THE AREA TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. IT WILL BRING A DECENT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO THE ENTIRE CWA SUNDAY NIGHT ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST MONDAY. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP LATE SUNDAY AND CONTINUE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY WHILE SHIFTING TO THE NORTH/NORTHWEST MONDAY AFTERNOON AND MONDAY NIGHT. A MAINLY DRY NORTHWEST FLOW WILL TAKE HOLD MONDAY NIGHT AND PERSIST THROUGH THURSDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN COOL CONDITIONS WITH SOME BREEZY NORTH WINDS. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...CHALLENGING WIND FORECAST IN THE IMMEDIATE TERM. AS OF 22Z THE INVERSION HAD BROKEN IN THE FOOTHILLS AROUND THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE VALLEY...WITH GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS SURFACING THERE. HOWEVER...LIGHT NORTHEAST WINDS REMAINED PREVALENT ACROSS MOST OF THE VALLEY FLOOR. EXPECT THE SOUTHWEST WINDS TO OVERSPREAD THE ENTIRE VALLEY FLOOR BY 03Z...BUT THE EXACT TIMING AT KLAS IS VERY UNCERTAIN. CEILINGS COULD COME DOWN BELOW 8000 FT EARLY FRIDAY MORNING AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND CHANCES FOR SHOWERS MOVE IN. RAIN CHANCES WILL MOST LIKELY END BY NOONISH WITH CEILINGS RISING IN THE AFTERNOON AS WINDS SHIFT TO NORTHWESTERLY BEHIND A COLD FRONT. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...BREEZY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND IN AREAS SUBJECT TO TERRAIN FUNNELING /SUCH AS BARSTOW AND TWENTYNINE PALMS/. A COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST FRIDAY...SHIFTING WINDS TO NORTHWESTERLY IN MOST AREAS /EXCEPT FOR WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY WHERE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS WILL PERSIST/. THE BEST CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION...LOW CEILINGS...AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION WILL BE IN THE SIERRA THIS EVENING...SPREADING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN LATER TONIGHT AND ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT ON FRIDAY BEFORE ENDING FRIDAY NIGHT. && && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && DISCUSSION...HARRISON AVIATION...MORGAN 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 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds blew down several tree limbs 5 miles SSE of Summerlin. Blowing dust also reduced visibility.
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, December 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: 604952.