A series of three Pacific storms impacted the desert Southwest, bringing periods of heavy rain, heavy snow, and locally dense fog.
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 series of three Pacific storms impacted the desert Southwest, bringing periods of heavy rain, heavy snow, and locally dense fog.
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 5, 2:58 AM PST, 6 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 258 AM PST TUE JAN 5 2016 .SYNOPSIS...TWO STORM SYSTEMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY BRINGING WIDESPREAD VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO MUCH OF THE AREA. IF YOU PLAN ON TRAVELING INTO THE MOUNTAINS... BE SURE TO CHECK LOCAL ROAD CONDITIONS AS HEAVY SNOW COULD MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE. && .SHORT TERM...THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. LIGHT SHOWER ACTIVITY CONTINUES OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING WITH UNDER A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN MEASURED IN MOST LOCATIONS OVERNIGHT. SATELLITE SHOWS THE NEXT WAVE OF MOISTURE APPROACHING THE SIERRA WITH SNOW EXPECTED ACROSS THE SIERRA CREST AND EASTERN SLOPES THROUGH THIS EVENING. A WINTER STORM WARNING WILL GO INTO EFFECT AT 4 AM THIS MORNING FOR THE SIERRA AND WHITE MOUNTAINS HOWEVER THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED AFTER 10 AM. A SECOND WINTER STORM WARNING WILL GO INTO EFFECT AT 7 AM FOR THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AND SHEEP RANGE. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL THERE IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE SET TO GO INTO EFFECT AT 7 AM AS WELL FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY ALTHOUGH THE BEST SHOT FOR ACCUMULATIONS OVER LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTY WILL BE LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. PLAN ON ADDING SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY TO THE ADVISORY LIST PRIMARILY FOR THE HUALAPAI MOUNTAINS WHERE MODELS FORECAST 3-6 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 6000 FEET. MUCH OF THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE CWA WILL SEE RAIN WITH QUARTER TO HALF INCH AMOUNTS EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY MORNING IN MOST AREAS WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH A BREAK BETWEEN SYSTEMS WEDNESDAY MORNING BUT A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS ARE LIKELY IN THE FAR EASTERN REGIONS OF THE CWA WITH LIGHT SNOW RE-DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SIERRA. SNOW INTENSITY INCREASES ONCE AGAIN ALONG THE SIERRA CREST AND EASTERN SLOPES WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. A WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA WILL BE UPGRADED TO A WARNING WITH THIS PACKAGE. AREAS EAST OF THE SIERRA SHOULD ONLY SEE LIGHT PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THOUGH MONDAY. ANOTHER ROUND OF WET WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO START THE LONG TERM PERIOD, WITH MOST AREAS SEEING PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS BETWEEN A TENTH AN A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF RAINFALL. ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED DOWN TO ABOUT THE 4500 FOOT LEVEL AND SOME ELEVATIONS DOWN TO 3500 FEET COULD SEE LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW THURSDAY MORNING, INCLUDING THE SPRING MOUNTAINS. THE LATEST GUIDANCE SEEMS TO BE CONVERGING ON A SOLUTION THAT POINTS TOWARD MOHAVE COUNTY RECEIVING CONSIDERABLE PRECIP ACCUMULATIONS, WITH POSSIBLY SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. GIVEN THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY AND AFTER COORDINATING WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES, HAVE DECIDED NOT TO ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, IF SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO CONVERGE TOWARD THIS VERY WET SCENARIO, ONE COULD CERTAINLY BE ISSUED IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS SYSTEM EXITS EAST THURSDAY NIGHT WITH FORECAST CONFIDENCE DECREASING FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD. ON FRIDAY THE LAST BIT OF ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH THE WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY TROUGH WILL SLIDE SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS CALIFORNIA INTO ARIZONA. OUR WESTERN AND SOUTHERN AREAS WOULD STAND THE BEST CHANCE OF ANY LIGHT SHOWERS, WITH SMALLER CHANCES ELSEWHERE. THERE IS SOME AGREEMENT THAT ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL SWING THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST CONUS SATURDAY, BUT THE LOCATION OF BOTH FORCING AND AVAILABLE MOISTURE ARE QUITE DIFFERENT IN THE MODEL SOLUTIONS. IF ANY PRECIP DOES MATERIALIZE, IT LOOKS RATHER LIGHT. THERE IS CONSENSUS THAT THIS SHORTWAVE SHOULD BE EAST OF US SUNDAY, WITH A DRY PERIOD LOOKING POSSIBLE SUNDAY THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY. A WEAK TROUGH PASSING BY TO OUR NORTHWEST LATE MONDAY MAY BRING A FEW SHOWERS TO OUR NORTHWEST COUNTIES, BUT THOSE CHANCES ARE RATHER SMALL. AS FOR TEMPERATURES, EXPECT THEM TO BE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL GIVEN THE FREQUENT PASSAGE OF STORMS AND CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS THROUGH FRIDAY, THEN COOLER NORTHWEST FLOW THEREAFTER. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE AT THE TERMINAL THROUGH LATE MORNING BEFORE TURNING SOUTHERLY THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT SPEEDS GENERALLY AOB 7KTS. CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH SHOWERS INCREASING IN AND AROUND THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY LATER THIS MORNING. EXPECT A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS TO MOVE ACROSS THE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...LOWERING CIGS BELOW 1K FEET AND REDUCING VSBY TO AT LEAST 3SM IN MODERATE RAINFALL. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS...MECHANICAL TURBULENCE...AND ICING WILL BE ISSUES TODAY AND AGAIN LATER THIS WEEK AFTER A BRIEF BREAK WEDNESDAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...EXPECT MAINLY LIGHT WINDS AT ALL TAF SITES TO GIVE WAY TO INCREASING SOUTHERLY WINDS AT MOST TAF SITES THROUGH THIS EVENING. CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE AT ALL TAF SITES THIS MORNING...WITH LIGHT PASSING SHRA AND BR EXPECTED AT KDAG AND IN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY THROUGH MUCH OF THE MORNING. SHRA WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS THESE AREAS AND INTO THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY BY MID-MORNING...BEFORE A SUBSTANTIAL AREA OF RAIN MOVES ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY REDUCING CIGS TO BELOW 1K FEET IN AREAS AND VSBY TO 2-3SM IN MODERATE RAIN. EXPECT RAIN TO TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST TONIGHT. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS...MECHANICAL TURBULENCE...AND ICING WILL BE ISSUES TODAY AND AGAIN LATER THIS WEEK AFTER A BRIEF BREAK WEDNESDAY. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...WHILE SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT RAIN...SNOW...OR OTHER WEATHER-RELATED IMPACTS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. && SHORT TERM...SALMEN LONG TERM...PADDOCK AVIATION...PULLIN FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
The Edwards AFB radar (KEYX), 158 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:58 UTC.
2 flash flood, 1 heavy snow, 1 dense fog, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Eight inches of snow fell 1 mile W of Aspendell.
Visibility briefly fell to 1/4 mile in dense fog at Bicycle Lake on Fort Irwin.
Highway 95 was closed from I-40 to the NV state line due to flooding near mile marker 79.
Rain caused power poles to catch fire in Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree, with 1200 customers losing power.
Debris washed onto the intersection of Yucca Mesa Road and Barron Drive, closing the road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in California, 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: 611584, 611583, 611586, 611598, 611600.