A cold low pressure system brought snow to the higher elevations of southern Nevada, along with a brief funnel cloud.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 cold low pressure system brought snow to the higher elevations of southern Nevada, along with a brief funnel cloud.
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 Mar 1, 10:34 AM PST, 2 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 1034 AM PST SUN MAR 1 2015 .SYNOPSIS...A BAND OF STEADIER PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD NORTHEAST ACROSS SAN BERNARDINO, MOHAVE, CLARK AND LINCOLN COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THE STEADIEST PRECIPITATION SHOULD TAKE PLACE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING BEFORE TAPERING TO SHOWERS. ELSEWHERE EXPECT SHOWERS AROUND TODAY INTO MONDAY. SHOWERS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. GUSTY NORTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY ESPECIALLY IN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. OTHERWISE DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. && .UPDATE... OVERALL THE FORECAST REMAINS ON TRACK THIS MORNING. ONLY MADE A FEW UPDATES TO ALIGN BETTER WITH CURRENT CONDITIONS AND TO ADJUST THE AFTERNOON THROUGH OVERNIGHT HOURS CLOSER TO THE LATEST 12Z DATA. WE ARE STARTING TO SEE A SURGE IN MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH AS THE UPPER LOW BEGINS TO SINK SOUTH JUST OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST. PRECIPITATION COVERAGE WILL INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY AND BE HEAVIEST LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. SNOW LEVELS ARE RUNNING FAIRLY HIGH RIGHT NOW AS THAT SOUTHERLY MOIST FLOW IS FROM A WARM SOURCE REGION. LEVELS OF GENERALLY 4000-4500 IN THE WEST TO 6500+ IN OUR EAST. AS THE MOISTURE SURGE CONTINUES...SNOW LEVELS WILL INCREASE A LITTLE MORE OVERNIGHT...PARTICULARLY ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY. SNOW AMOUNTS OF 3-6 INCHES (LOCALLY HIGHER POSSIBLE) ABOVE 5000 FEET IN LINCOLN COUNTY AS WELL AS THE SHEEP RANGE AND SPRING MOUNTAINS STILL LOOKS GOOD...WITH NO ADJUSTMENTS TO THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NECESSARY AT THIS TIME. MORE SHOWERY ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED ACROSS INYO COUNTY. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... 402 AM PST SUN MAR 1 2015 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS THE MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW SWIRLING SOUTHWEST OF POINT CONCEPTION THIS MORNING. AS THIS LOW SINKS SOUTH, THE JET AHEAD OF IT WAS ALREADY HELPING TO EJECT A PLUME OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE NORTHEAST ACROSS SOCAL. THE LATEST INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY WAS THAT CLOUD TOPS IN THIS BAND OF MOISTURE HAVE STEADILY ENHANCED IN THE LAST FEW HOURS ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. WHAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IS HOW QUICKLY THE LOW-LEVELS MOISTEN UP. WE SHOULD SEE STEADY PRECIPITATION DEVELOP WITH THIS BAND STARTING THIS MORNING. THE WARM NATURE OF THIS FETCH WILL LEAD TO A HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT TO THIS PLUME WITH PWATS NEARING 0.60 INCH IN LAS VEGAS AND 0.75 INCH ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY PER MODEL FORECASTS. THIS PLUME WILL HAVE AN EXCELLENT UPSLOPE COMPONENT TO IT ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY WHICH MAY YIELD SOME EFFICIENT PRECIPITATION RATES ESPECIALLY BY THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT. WE TOYED WITH THE IDEA OF A FLOOD WATCH BUT FEEL THAT ANY FLOODING WILL BE LOCALIZED AND MORE IN THE MINOR SIDE. SO, WE OPTED TO ISSUE A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT WITH THIS THREAT. ANY AREAS THAT SEE ANY HEAVIER RAIN SIT OVER THEM FOR A FEW HOURS WILL BE THE MOST AT RISK ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE POOR DRAINAGE. FOR THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY, THE MORNING SHOULD BE MAINLY CLOUDY WITH A FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND THE VALLEY BY MID-AFTERNOON. HOWEVER, THE STEADIEST RAIN LOOKS TO HOLD OFF UNTIL LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. RAIN SHOULD BE STEADIEST AND HEAVIEST TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF CLARK COUNTY, SNOW LEVELS WILL BE NEAR 6000 FEET TODAY LOWERING TO 5000-5500 FEET TONIGHT. GIVEN THE BAND OF PRECIPITATION, I FELT IT JUSTIFIED ISSUING A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AND SHEEP RANGE. AS THIS BAND OF PRECIPITATION WORKS INTO LINCOLN COUNTY, WE SHOULD ALSO SEE STEADIER SNOW DEVELOP THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT ESPECIALLY TOWARD THE UTAH BORDER AND NORTH OF PIOCHE. SNOW LEVELS THERE WILL BE IN THE 5000-5500 FOOT RANGE. PRECIPITATION IN THESE AREAS SHOULD TAPER TO SHOWERS BY LATE MONDAY MORNING AS THE PLUME SHIFTS EAST AND THE LOW OFFSHORE OPENS UP AND LIFTS NORTHEAST. HOWEVER, WITH THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF THE JET NEARBY AND THE BASE OF THE MID-LEVEL TROUGH AND PVA MAX OVERHEAD, IT IS HARD TO SEE SHOWERS TOTALLY SHUTTING OFF LATE MONDAY MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. THERE IS ALSO ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND CAPE IN THIS AREA THAT FEW THUNDERSTORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT. ACROSS INYO, ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES EXPECT SHOWERS AROUND MAINLY TODAY WITH CHANCES DECREASING STARTING TONIGHT INTO MONDAY AS THE BEST MOISTURE STARTS TO EXIT THESE AREAS. ANOTHER CONCERN ON MONDAY AFTERNOON WILL BE INCREASING SOUTHWEST WINDS OVER THE MOJAVE DESERT, GUSTS OF 30-40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE AS SOME DRIER LOW AND MID-LEVEL AIR WORKS IN. TEMPS WILL BE ABOUT 6-12 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR HIGHS TODAY AND MONDAY. HIGHS TODAY ARE TRICKY AGAIN AS MANY SITES ARE NOT THAT FAR OFF FROM WHAT MODELS SUGGEST AS FORECAST HIGHS. I BUMPED UP NUMBERS A BIT IN SOME SPOTS TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. .LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. STILL LOOKS LIKE THE TROUGH SPLITS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD...WITH ONE PIECE ROLLING THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN INTO UTAH AND ANOTHER DIGGING SOUTH TOWARD SAN DIEGO. THIS COULD LEAVE OUR AREA IN A RELATIVELY DRY AREA IN BETWEEN...SO REDUCED POPS A BIT MORE. THE TROUGH AXIS PUSHES EAST OF OUR AREA TUESDAY EVENING...TAKING PRECIP CHANCES WITH IT. EXPECT GUSTY NORTH WINDS BEHIND THE TROUGH ON WEDNESDAY...WITH ADVISORIES STILL POSSIBLE FOR THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. A WARMING TREND WILL GET UNDERWAY ON THURSDAY AS HEIGHTS RISE AND WINDS SUBSIDE. EXPECT DRY WEATHER TO PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND WITH TEMPERATURES RISING TO A FEW DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FOR EARLY MARCH. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...CLOUD BASES WILL LOWER TODAY. A PERIOD OF STEADY RAIN IMPACTING THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. CIGS BELOW 5K FEET AND REDUCED VSBY ARE POSSIBLE WITH MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS LIKELY. RAIN SHOULD TAPER OFF TO SHOWERS BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL MAINLY BE 8 KTS OR LESS THROUGH TONIGHT AND TREND TOWARD TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTION. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 8-16 KTS WITH GUSTS TO 25 KTS ARE EXPECTED FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON. CIGS AND VSBY SHOULD IMPROVE BY LATE MONDAY MORNING INTO MONDAY AFTERNOON. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...WINDS MAINLY 10 KTS OR LESS WITH WINDS FAVORING TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTIONAL TRENDS TODAY INTO TONIGHT. CLOUD BASES LOWERING THROUGH THE DAY. STEADIER PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED AFTER 21Z TODAY INTO TONIGHT SOUTH OF A KDAG-KELY LINE WITH SNOW LEVELS BETWEEN 5500 AND 6500 FEET. ISO-SCT SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED NORTHWEST OF THIS LINE. EXPECT CIGS BELOW 5K FEET AND VSBY REDUCED TO MVFR OR LOWER AT TIMES. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE LIKELY. STEADY PRECIPITATION SHOULD TAPER TO SHOWERS BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z ON MONDAY. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. && UPDATE...PADDOCK SHORT TERM/AVIATION...STACHELSKI LONG TERM...MORGAN FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 176 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:34 UTC.
1 heavy snow, 1 winter weather, 1 heavy rain, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Fourteen inches of snow fell at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, and 11.8 inches at Mount Charleston. Highway 158 was closed for a time due to cars stuck in the snow.
Five inches of snow fell in Pioche.
Wet roads contributed to one vehicle accident with one minor injury (indirect).
A funnel cloud was photographed near Spirit Mountain.
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, March 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: 559332, 559333, 559339, 559334.