Precipitable water at or near all-time April records and an unseasonably strong, cold Pacific storm system came together to produce a very unusual April flash flooding episode.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Precipitable water at or near all-time April records and an unseasonably strong, cold Pacific storm system came together to produce a very unusual April flash flooding episode.
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 Apr 11, 9:55 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 955 AM PDT MON APR 11 2016 .SYNOPSIS...ANOTHER DAY OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY AS A WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AFFECTS THE REGION. DRIER CONDITIONS RETURN TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES. A TROUGH WILL BEGIN TO INFLUENCE THE REGION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH COOLER AND WINDIER CONDITIONS...BUT GENERALLY LOW CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION. && .UPDATE...AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY MOVING TOWARD NORTHERN BAJA COMBINED WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND AVAILABLE INSTABILITY WILL HELP GENERATE ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO THIS EVENING FOR MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOHAVE DESERT. MAIN CONCERNS WITH TODAYS STORMS WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. MORNING SOUNDING WAS SHOWING FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS UP TO AROUND 300MB. THIS WILL LEAD TO SLOW MOVING STORMS AND THERE COULD BE SOME ISOLATED AREAS OF FLOODING. CURRENT FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND NO UPDATED NEEDED AT THIS TIME. && PREV DISCUSSION 225 AM PDT MON APR 11 2016 .SHORT TERM...THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL CIRCULATION HAS SUPPORTED SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY THROUGH THE NIGHT WITH OCCASIONAL FLARE UPS ACROSS THE CENTRAL MOJAVE DESERT EXTENDING EASTWARD TOWARDS KINGMAN. MEANWHILE...THE LOW WHICH BROUGHT THE PAST FEW DAYS OF INCLEMENT WEATHER TO THE REGION IS NOW PUSHING EASTWARD INTO NEW MEXICO...ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY A SECONDARY LOW NOW APPROACHING THE SAN DIEGO COASTLINE. THIS SECONDARY LOW IS MUCH WEAKER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR BUT WILL STILL WORK TO ENHANCE SHOWER CHANCES FOR MUCH OF THE REGION TODAY. WHILE INSTABILITY WILL BE MARGINAL...PARTIAL SUNSHINE AND FAVORABLE DYNAMICS WILL SUPPORT A HANDFUL OF THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL. THIS LOW WILL PUSH EASTWARD TONIGHT RESULTING IN DRIER AND MORE STABLE AIR RETURNING TO THE AREA. A FEW LIGHT TERRAIN DRIVEN SHOWERS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE TUESDAY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF MOHAVE COUNTY AND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN...BUT MOST AREAS WILL REMAIN DRY WITH TEMPERATURES CLIMBING CLOSER TO SEASONAL NORMALS. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE MODELS ARE ACTUALLY IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE OVERALL PATTERN DURING THE LONG TERM. THE NEXT UPPER LOW WILL BE APPROACHING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY WITH A SOMEWHAT DIFFLUENT SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. SOUTH/SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL START TO INCREASE A BIT IN RESPONSE BUT LOOK TO REMAIN WELL BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A BIT ABOVE NORMAL IN MOST AREAS. THE MODELS AGREE IN DEVELOPMENT OF A BAND OF PRECIPITATION OUT AHEAD OF THE LOW POSSIBLY GETTING AS FAR SOUTH AS ESMERALDA...CENTRAL NYE AND NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY WHERE WE ARE GOING WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. THE MAIN THREAT OF SHOWERS WITH THIS BAND WILL LIKELY BE NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA HOWEVER. AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE WITH ADVISORY LEVEL SPEEDS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MOJAVE DESERT POSSIBLE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE WHILE PRECIPITATION CHANCES SPREAD A BIT FARTHER SOUTH BUT REMAINING MAINLY NORTH OF CLARK COUNTY. THE LOW IS THEN FORECAST TO DROP SOUTHEAST INTO ARIZONA BY FRIDAY LEADING TO INCREASING PRECIPITATION CHANCES MAINLY NORTH AND EAST OF LAS VEGAS. GIVEN THE TRAJECTORY OF THIS LOW...PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS DO NOT LOOK TO BE SIGNIFICANT. THE LOW WILL GRADUALLY MOVE EAST FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH SOME MOISTURE WORKING DOWN THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW INTO MAINLY LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTIES FRIDAY NIGHT AND PERHAPS EVEN INTO SATURDAY. FRIDAY LOOKS TO BE THE COOLEST DAY WITH SOME WARMING SATURDAY. AREAS OF BREEZY NORTHERLY WINDS ARE LIKELY BOTH DAYS. DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO NORMAL OR A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS AS HIGH PRESSURE STARTS TO PUSH INTO CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NEVADA. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...WINDS WILL GENERALLY FOLLOW TYPICAL DIURNAL TRENDS WITH SPEEDS UNDER 8 KNOTS. CIGS AROUND 5 KFT ARE A GOOD POSSIBILITY MUCH OF TODAY WITH SHOWERS AROUND. A THUNDERSTORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT FOR THIS AFTERNOON. IMPROVING CONDITIONS LATER THIS EVENING. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS DUE TO LOW CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED MUCH OF TODAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH FAIRLY LOW CIGS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION MUCH OF THE DAY. CONDITIONS WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE TONIGHT. EXPECT AREAS OF CONVECTIVE TURBULENCE, ICING AS WELL AS MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS. NO SIGNIFICANT WINDS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT AND WILL MAINLY FOLLOW TYPICAL DIURNAL TRENDS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS DUE TO THUNDERSTORMS. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && UPDATE...GORELOW SHORT TERM...OUTLER LONG TERM/AVIATION...HARRISON 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), 41 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:24 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water about 1.5 feet deep flowed over roads in White Hills after 0.49 inch of rain fell in 20 minutes. Washes were also out of their banks.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2016
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: 619620.