A large cold storm system diving out of the Pacific Northwest brought high winds to several areas of the Mojave Desert.
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 large cold storm system diving out of the Pacific Northwest brought high winds to several areas of 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 28, 1:35 PM PST, 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
235 PM PDT MON MAR 28 2016
.SYNOPSIS...WIDESPREAD STRONG AND POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS WILL
PERSIST THIS EVENING BEFORE RELAXING LATE TONIGHT AS A STORM SYSTEM
MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. WIDESPREAD BLOWING DUST IS LIKELY ALONG WITH
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS MAINLY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN NORTH AND EAST OF
LAS VEGAS. COOL TEMPERATURES AND SHOWER CHANCES WILL LINGER MAINLY
ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND SIERRA THROUGH WEDNESDAY BEFORE
A WARMING TREND COMMENCES LATE IN THE WEEK THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
&&
.SHORT TERM... THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
...MAJOR WIND EVENT STILL ON TRACK FOR THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING...
A VERY WINDY EVENING IN STORE FOR MUCH OF THE AREA AS A POWERFUL
STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN. WINDS SO FAR HAVE BEEN
SLOWLY CREEPING UPWARDS THROUGH THE DAY...AND LATEST WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY INDICATES INCREASINGLY STRONG SUBSIDENCE MOVING TOWARDS THE
REGION WHICH WILL ENHANCE DOWNSLOPING WIND POTENTIAL IN THE HOURS TO
COME. IN ADDITION...FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST A STABLE LAYER ABOVE
THE RIDGETOP LEVEL OF THE SPRING MOUNTAINS (~10K FT) WHICH WILL AID
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRONG DOWNSLOPE WIND EVENT REACHING INTO
THE WESTERN AND POSSIBLY CENTRAL LAS VEGAS VALLEY. THIS STORM SYSTEM
BEARS SIMILARITY TO THE MARCH 6TH 2012 WIND EVENT WHEN THE WINDS
TOPPED OUT AT 63 MPH AT MCCARRAN AND OVER 14,000 PEOPLE LOST POWER
IN ADDITION TO SCATTERED WIND DAMAGE. WITH THIS EVENT...SIMILARLY
STRONG WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE MOJAVE DESERT IN
EASTERN CALIFORNIA...SOUTHERN NEVADA...AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA.
IN SUMMARY...PREPARE FOR
*WIDESPREAD WIND GUSTS EXCEEDING 50 MPH
*POCKETS OF DENSE BLOWING DUST AND LOW VISIBILITY
*SPORADIC POWER OUTAGES
*POSSIBLE WIND DAMAGE TO OUTDOOR STRUCTURES AND ROOFTOPS
*FLIGHT DELAYS
IN ADDITION TO THE WIND...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BROKEN OUT ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN FROM NEAR TONOPAH DOWN TOWARDS LIDA. THESE
STORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG THE COLD FRONT PUSHING SOUTH ACROSS THE
AREA AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF
THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN THIS EVENING. A FEW SHOWERS AND STORMS MAY
ALSO KICK OFF THIS EVENING ACROSS NORTHWEST ARIZONA. WINDS WILL
GRADUALLY RELAX THIS EVENING AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES ACROSS THE
REGION AND PRESSURE GRADIENTS SLOWLY RELAX.
TROUGH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIVE WEATHER TODAY WILL MOVE INTO THE
EASTERN GREAT BASIN BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND LINGER THERE UNTIL
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WHEN IT FINALLY SHIFTS EAST. IN THE
MEANTIME...INSTABILITY INDUCED SHOWERS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE ACROSS
MAINLY THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND SIERRA BOTH TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES AREA WIDE WILL BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL.
.LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD INTO THE WESTERN STATES BY
THURSDAY RESULTING IN IMPROVING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND A WARMING
TREND. IN FACT...TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB PRETTY RAPIDLY THROUGH THE
WEEKEND...POSSIBLY REACHING THE MID 80S BY MONDAY FOR LAS VEGAS AND
CLIMBING INTO THE 90S FOR DEATH VALLEY AND THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER.
LONGER RANGE MODELS HINT AT THE POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM
IMPACTING THE REGION BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.
&&
.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...AN AIRPORT WEATHER WARNING IS IN EFFECT
FOR THE KLAS TERMINAL AREA FROM 1500 TO 1800 PDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR
SOUTHWEST WINDS GUSTING UP TO 52 KTS. THIS IS DUE TO A VIGOROUS
STORM MOVING INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA FROM CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. SOUTHWEST
WINDS WILL DECREASE MODERATELY THIS EVENING AS THE SYSTEM MOVES
OVERHEAD...BUT GUSTS OF 30-35 KTS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH
MIDNIGHT PDT. SHOWERS WILL MOVE DOWN INTO THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE
LAS VEGAS VALLEY LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING BUT CLOUD
BASES SHOULD GENERALLY REMAIN ABOVE 8 KFT. WIND SPEEDS WILL BE
SIGNIFICANTLY LIGHTER TUESDAY BUT SPEEDS SHOULD GENERALLY STAY ABOVE
10 KNOTS WITH A WEST TO NORTHWEST COMPONENT.
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...WIDESPREAD SOUTHWEST WINDS GUSTING 40-55 KTS ACROSS THE
MOJAVE DESERT REGION WILL DECREASE SLIGHTLY THIS EVENING BUT GUSTS
OF 30-40KTS WILL BE COMMON THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY AS A VIGOROUS STORM
MOVES FROM CALIFORNIA INTO NEVADA. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS RAIN
SHOWERS AND SNOW SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL NEVADA THROUGH TUESDAY. WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE
FROM THE WEST TO NORTHWEST AT 10-20 KNOTS ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION
TUESDAY.
&&
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO
IMPACT MUCH OF THE REGION THIS EVENING AND SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED
TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WINDS...REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY...OR
DAMAGE ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
&&
SHORT/LONG TERM...OUTLER
AVIATION...ADAIR
FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE:
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTERThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds overturned a tractor trailer at Stovepipe Wells Campground. One person was injured.
This gust occurred at Bicycle Lake (KBYS) on Fort Irwin.
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: 619542, 619543.