Another fast moving Pacific storm system brought isolated high winds to the Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert.
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.
Another fast moving Pacific storm system brought isolated high winds to the Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert.
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 13, 7:46 PM PST, 5 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 846 PM PDT SUN MAR 13 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN TONIGHT INTO MONDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO THE SIERRA AND LOCALLY BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERT. DRY AND WARM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ALONG THE WEST COAST. && .UPDATE...OVERALL, THE CURRENT FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE AND NO UPDATES ARE NEEDED AT THIS TIME. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE STRONG AT TIMES IN THE SIERRA, OWENS VALLEY AND ACROSS SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS WHICH INCLUDE INTERSTATES 15 AND 40 AND HIGHWAY 395 IN THE OWENS VALLEY. A HIGH WIND WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE UPPER EASTERN SLOPES OF THE SIERRA. EXPECT GUSTY WINDS ELSEWHERE THROUGH THE NIGHT. && .AVIATION....FOR MCCARRAN..GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EVENING THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. GUSTS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 25-30 KT RANGE. WINDS MAY TURN TO A WEST TO NORTHWEST DIRECTION AROUND 12Z MONDAY...THEN BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE FOR MUCH OF MONDAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...GUSTY WEST AND SOUTHWEST WINDS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION THROUGH THE NIGHT...WITH SUSTAINED SPEEDS GENERALLY 10-20 KTS AND GUSTS 25-30 KTS. STRONGER WINDS WILL OCCUR OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA AND THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT TONIGHT (NEAR KDAG/KBYS). MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENCE WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE OWENS VALLEY AS WELL AS AREAS OF BLOWING DUST FROM LAS VEGAS WEST. GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE MONDAY ACROSS SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY...AS WELL AS CENTRAL NEVADA. AREAS AROUND LAS VEGAS AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA WILL SEE MUCH LIGHTER WINDS MONDAY. MORE NORTHERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...245 PM PDT... .DISCUSSION...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY A LOW AMPLITUDE SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INTO NEVADA TONIGHT AND THEN INTO UTAH BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE AREA BUT AN INCH OR TWO OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SIERRA TONIGHT WITH JUST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS BRUSHING NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY MONDAY. ANY PRECIPITATION OVER LINCOLN COUNTY WILL BE VERY LIGHT. THERE WILL ALSO BE SLIGHT COOLING MONDAY DUE TO THIS TROUGH ALONG WITH CONSIDERABLE HIGH CLOUDS AT TIME TONIGHT AND MONDAY. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE WIND WHICH HAS BEEN INCREASING THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY ACROSS WESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY WHERE GUSTS OVER 40 MPH HAVE BEEN RECORDED. THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE SIERRA AND ADVISORIES FOR THE OWENS VALLEY AND MUCH OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY STILL LOOK GOOD. SOME HIRES MODEL OUTPUT SUGGEST WINDS IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY WILL REACH ADVISORY LEVELS. I FEEL THAT THERE COULD BE A COUPLE OF HOURS THIS EVENING IN A SMALL PART OF THE VALLEY...ESPECIALLY FAR WEST AND SOUTH...WHERE THAT IS THE CASE BUT OVERALL NOT WORTH AN ADVISORY. WHILE GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS DIMINISH MONDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CWA...BREEZY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS ESMERALDA...CENTRAL NYE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES BEHIND THE EXITING TROUGH. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY AMPLIFY ALONG THE WEST COAST TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY LEADING TO DRY AND MILD TEMPERATURES. THERE WILL ALSO BE LOCALLY BREEZY NORTH WINDS AT TIMES DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL SLOWLY TRAVERSE THE CWA SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WITH WARMING TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS. IF THE RIDGE AXIS MOVES A LITTLE TO OUR EAST SUNDAY...WE WILL PROBABLY START TO SEE AN INCREASE IN HIGH CLOUD COVER AND POSSIBLY SOME LOCALLY BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED. HOWEVER STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE AREA AND SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OR WEATHER-RELATED DAMAGE ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && UPDATE/AVIATION...SALMEN PREV DISC... DISCUSSION...HARRISON AVIATION...WOLCOTT 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.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred at Bicycle Lake (KBYS) on Fort Irwin.
This gust occurred 4 miles NW of Independence.
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, March 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: 619537, 619536.