A strong Pacific storm system brought high winds to the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert, high winds and severe thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert, and heavy snow to the southern Great Basin. The episode continued into February.
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 strong Pacific storm system brought high winds to the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert, high winds and severe thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert, and heavy snow to the southern Great Basin. The episode continued into February.
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 Jan 31, 10:40 AM MST, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 940 AM PST SUN JAN 31 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A POTENT PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING STRONG WINDS AND WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TO THE AREA TODAY AND MONDAY. DRY WEATHER AND CALMER WINDS RETURN BEGINNING TUESDAY BUT TEMPERATURES WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY COOLER. && .UPDATE...BASED ON 12Z GUIDANCE PRIMARY SHIELD OF PRECIPITATION NOW IMPACTING THE SOUTHERN SIERRA...INYO COUNTY AND ESMERALDA COUNTY PROGGED TO CONTINUE EAST-NORTHEASTWARD INTO LINCOLN COUNTY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WITH THE LATEST UPDATE, UPGRADED ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY AS WELL AS THE WHITE MTNS OF INYO COUNTY TO A WINTER STORM WARNING. ADDED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TO THE OWENS VALLEY AND DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 4000 FEET. ITS BEEN SNOW THE PAST TWO HOURS AT BISHOP WITH ACCUMULATIONS STARTING. THERE WAS NO CHANGE TO THE REST OF THE WINTER WEATHER FOR LINCOLN...SPRING MTNS...SHEEP RANGE OR MOHAVE COUNTY. TURNING MUCH COLDER BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WITH GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS DEVELOPING THIS EVENING IN CENTRAL NEVADA THEN PUSHING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE REST OF THE AREA MONDAY. WILL LOOK IF ANY OTHER ZONES NEED TO BE INCLUDED IN THE WIND ADVISORY FOR MONDAY DURING THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO ROLL IN AND THICKEN TODAY WITH RAIN DEVELOPING SOMETIME AROUND/AFTER NOON. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE FORECAST ONCE AGAIN...HOWEVER...TEND TO THINK THAT AS PRECIS GETS GOING /ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING/ WINDS MIGHT BE DAMPENED A BIT. CEILINGS WILL MOST CERTAINLY FALL BELOW 5 FT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ADDITIONAL HAZARDS INCLUDE BOTH ICING AND TURBULENCE TODAY...ESPECIALLY BELOW 15 FT. AROUND DAYBREAK TOMORROW...NORTH/NORTHWEST WINDS AND COLD AIR BEGIN TO FILTER INTO THE AREA. WINDS COULD ACTUALLY ARRIVE IN FAIRLY LIGHT FORM WITH LIGHT RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS AROUND BEFORE THE STRONGER GUSTS ARRIVE LATER IN THE MORNING. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...GUSTY SOUTHERLY AND WESTERLY WINDS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE DESERTS TODAY AS A PACIFIC SYSTEM MOVES IN. EXPECT INCREASING MID AND LOW LEVEL CLOUDS AS WELL AS RAIN ACROSS ALL TERMINALS TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. VERY STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED AT KDAG WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50 KTS THIS EVENING. TURBULENCE IS POSSIBLE AT ALL LEVELS IN ADDITION TO ICING...ESPECIALLY BELOW 15 FT. NORTH WINDS BEGIN TO GUST UP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN DESERTS BY DAYBREAK TOMORROW. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY AND MONDAY. SATELLITE SHOWS AN IMPRESSIVE PLUME OF MOISTURE SPREADING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS MORNING AS THE WELL ADVERTISED PACIFIC STORM EASES DOWN THE WEST COAST. THE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AS IT SINKS SOUTHWARD WITH THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER FORECAST TO BE NEAR THE NORTHWEST COAST AT 4 AM THIS MORNING. THE SYSTEM DEEPENS AS IT DROPS INTO CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. A HOST OF WINTER WEATHER AND WIND PRODUCTS ARE EITHER IN EFFECT OR SET TO GO INTO EFFECT TODAY/TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF MONDAY. FOR DETAILS, INCLUDING AREAS AFFECTED, SEE PRODUCTS ON OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS. A WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES AT THIS TIME FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA WITH WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES AND WINTER STORM WARNINGS GOING INTO EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN, THE SHEEP RANGE AND SPRING MOUNTAINS AND PORTIONS OF MOHAVE COUNTY. THERE COULD BE A PERIOD OF SNOWFALL ENHANCEMENT LATER TODAY AS THE LOW STRENGTHENS AND WRAPS MOISTURE INTO THE MOUNTAIN AREAS. COLD AIR MOVES IN BEHIND THE LOW AND WILL LOWER SNOW LEVELS TO 3000 FEET OR POSSIBLY LOWER. HOWEVER, THE DEEPER MOISTURE MAY BE ON THE WAY OUT AS THE COLDEST AIR ARRIVES. THE SYSTEM REMAINS CLOSE ENOUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING WITH MOISTURE WRAPPING AROUND THE BACKSIDE OF THE LOW INTO LINCOLN, CLARK AND MOHAVE COUNTIES THAT WE COULD SEE SNOW SHOWERS IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY. 700MB TEMPERATURES OFF THE GFS SUGGESTS SNOW LEVELS BETWEEN 2000 AND 3000 FEET MONDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION ENDS MONDAY AS THE LOW MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. WIND IS ANOTHER CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM. MODEL DATA AND MOS GUIDANCE SHOWS STRONG WINDS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON AND A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AREA. LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY, A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WESTERN MOHAVE DESERT AND THE TWENTYNINE PALMS AREA. WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND MONDAY BEHIND THE SYSTEM. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE FORECAST TO IMPACT ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES WHERE A HIGH WIND WARNING WILL GO INTO EFFECT TONIGHT. OTHER AREAS COULD SEE ADVISORY LEVEL WINDS AS THE NORTH WINDS PUSH SOUTH THROUGH THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN INTO THE MOJAVE DESERT LATE TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE ADVISORY SINCE THE WIND FORECAST KEEPS WINDS BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. HOWEVER, THERE COULD BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF STRONG ENHANCED WINDS AS THE FRONT BLOWS THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING. A COOLING TREND BEGINS TODAY WITH FORECAST HIGH TEMPERATURES MORE THAN 15 DEGREES COOLER THAN YESTERDAY. BY MONDAY, TEMPERATURES COULD DROP ANOTHER 10 DEGREES WITH HIGHS STRUGGLING TO REACH 50 DEGREES IN LAS VEGAS. COMBINED WITH THE GUSTY NORTH WINDS, IT WILL CERTAINLY FEEL CHILLY. LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY COMPUTER MODEL GUIDANCE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE EARLY PORTION OF THE EXTENDED FORECAST. THERE IS HIGH CONFIDENCE IN A UPPER LEVEL RIDGE SETTING UP JUST OFF THE WEST COAST LEADING TO WARMER AND DRY CONDITIONS COMPARED TO WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH THIS WEEKEND. LATER IN THE WEEK DISCREPANCIES IN THE PATTERN EMERGE. THE GFS TENDS TO BRING A FAIR AMOUNT OF SHORT WAVE ENERGY UNDER THE RIDGE AND EVENTUALLY FORMING A REC BLOCK. THIS WOULD MEAN PERIODS OF SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS AND MORE CLOUDS BUT LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PRECIPITATION. THE ECMWF KEEPS THIS SHORT WAVE ENERGY IN THE NORTHERN STREAM OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE...BUT EVENTUALLY DRIVES A STRONG SHORT WAVE INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST BY THE WEEKEND. THIS WOULD MEAN A STRONG NORTH WIND SCENARIO FOR THE AREA. WE WILL SEE WHAT OCCURS WITH THE NEXT FEW MODEL RUNS BEFORE MAKING APPRECIABLE CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...HIGH WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH MONDAY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED HOWEVER PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && UPDATE...PIERCE AVIATION...CZYZYK SHORT TERM...SALMEN LONG TERM...LERICOS FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
1 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds 2 miles E of Kingman blew down a Joshua tree, which landed on and destroyed a fence and a mailbox.
This gust occurred 2 miles NNW of Mohave Valley.
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, January 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: 611772, 611773.