Above normal temperatures continued through early September, culminating in Las Vegas reaching Excessive Heat Warning criteria on the 12th. Two people died a few days later from 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.
Above normal temperatures continued through early September, culminating in Las Vegas reaching Excessive Heat Warning criteria on the 12th. Two people died a few days later from 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 Sep 12, 12:04 PM PST, 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 104 PM PDT SAT SEP 12 2015 .SYNOPSIS...CLOUDY AND COOLER SUNDAY WITH AN INCREASING CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AS THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE LINDA MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY FOLLOWED BY A DRY TREND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .SHORT TERM... NOT MUCH CHANGE TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON AS EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE ON TRACK FOR PUSHING THE REMANTS OF HURRICANE LINDA OVER THE AREA BEGINNING TOMORROW. HOW MUCH RAIN WE GET WILL BE A FUNCTION OF HOW FAST THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE MOISTEN UP. CONVECTION/THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL DIFFICULT TO PREDICT WITH THIS SYSTEM. CLOUD COVER MIGHT BE A LIMITING FACTOR. HOWEVER...THE STRONG DYNAMICS WITH THIS SYSTEM MAY BE ENOUGH TO GET A HEALTH DOSE OF CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. COMPUTER MODEL GUIDANCE ALSO STILL INDICATES ACTIVITY WILL MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA AS WESTERLY DOWN SLOPE WINDS WILL LIMIT PRECIPIATATION IN SAN BERNARDINO AND INYO COUNTIES. .LONG TERM... BY TUESDAY...MODELS HAVE COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT THAT HIGHER GRADE MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CORE OF FORMER HURRICANE LINDA WILL BE PUSHED ACROSS THE REGION (INSTEAD OF OUT TO SEA AS SOME GUIDANCE SHOWED JUST 24 HOURS AGO) BETWEEN 12Z TUESDAY AND 18Z WEDNESDAY. THE SIZE OF THIS SLUG OF MOISTURE IS LIKELY TO BE RELATIVELY SMALL...BUT THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE COULD BE SUBSTANTIAL (PWATS NEAR THE CORE LOOK TO APPROACH 1.7 INCHES)...THEREFORE THE EXACT TRACK AND TIMING BECOME CRITICAL TO THE FORECAST THROUGH TUESDAY/TUESDAY NIGHT. MODELS DIFFERENCES AT THIS STAGE WILL KEEP CONFIDENCE MODERATE. THAT SAID...I DID MAKE A SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO AREAL PRECIPITATION COVERAGE AND CHANCES THROUGH TUESDAY. THE MAIN CHANGE WAS ADDING CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION ACROSS MUCH OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY FOR TUESDAY. I LIMITED THE CHANCES FOR THUNDER FOR MUCH OF SAN BERNARDINO AND CLARK COUNTIES TO A SLIGHT CHANCE BASED ON THE LIKELIHOOD OF LIMITED INSTABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF LOW/MID-LEVEL CLOUD COVER CURRENTLY DEPICTED WITH THIS SLUG AS IT MOVES ACROSS. ANOTHER CONCERN IS THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE DEEP LAYER SHEAR...WHICH WILL RANGE FROM 30-50KTS ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF THE AREA. THIS COULD LEAD TO A FEW STRONGER OR MORE ORGANIZED STORMS IF THINGS DESTABILIZE DECENTLY. AGAIN BY ROUGHLY 18Z WEDNESDAY THIS SLUG OF ENHANCED MOISTURE SHOULD BE RAPIDLY EXITING THE AREA...AND HAVE LEFT IN ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. BY THE EVENING...CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY TO BE RELATIVELY DRY AREA WIDE. FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY EXPECT ZONAL FLOW OR WEAK TROUGHING ACROSS THE REGION. THIS SHOULD KEEP THINGS RELATIVELY DRY THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK...OF NOT OCCASIONALLY BREEZY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB FROM A FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL TUESDAY TO NEAR OR JUST ABOVE NORMAL BY THE END OF THE WEEK. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...LIGHT WINDS GENERALLY UNDER 8 KTS FAVORING AN EASTERLY DIRECTION ARE EXPECTED. SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL PICK UP THIS EVENING...WITH SPEEDS OF 8-12 KTS POSSIBLE BEFORE MIDNIGHT. ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA POSSIBLE MAINLY TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF KLAS TODAY. MOISTURE AND CHANCES FOR TSRA/SHRA AND LOWERED CIGS TO 7-8K FEET WILL INCREASE SUNDAY AND LAST THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...PRIMARILY OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF KLAS. GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR ANY SHRA/TSRA...OTHERWISE RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS WILL FAVOR A SOUTHERLY DIRECTION DURING THE AFTERNOON/EVENING AND TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTIONS OVERNIGHT. AREAS OF FU AND HZ ARE POSSIBLE IN AROUND KBIH REDUCING VSBY AND CREATING LOCAL MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS. MOISTURE AND CHANCES FOR TSRA/SHRA AND LOWERED CIGS OF 5-10K FEET WILL INCREASE SUNDAY AND LAST INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && SHORT TERM: LERICOS AVIATION: LERICOS/WOLCOTT LONG TERM: PULLIN 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 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Las Vegas briefly reached Excessive Heat Warning criteria at the end of a prolonged period of above normal temperatures. 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 | 2015-09-16 | 39 | Male | Permanent Structure | Indirect |
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, September 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: 601215.