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 9, 8:40 AM PST, 3 hours 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 940 AM PDT SAT APR 9 2016 .SYNOPSIS...THE PARADE OF STORM SYSTEMS MARCHES ON AS THE NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM IS SET TO IMPACT THE REGION THROUGH SUNDAY. RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER IS ON THE AGENDA FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK. && .UPDATE...AREA OF MODERATE OF RAIN ALONG WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN CLARK/WESTERN MOHAVE COUNTIES CURRENTLY. AREA IS MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST AND WILL IMPACT MESQUITE AND INTERSTATE 15 IN THE VIRGIN RIVER GORGE THROUGH NOON. ADDITIONALLY, SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING WESTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN CLARK AND NORTHEAST SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES WILL DRIFT NORTHWARD IMPACTS THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY AND PAHRUMP. VORTICITY LOBE/WEAK JET STREAK RESPONSIBLE FOR CURRENT PRECIPITATION PROGGED TO LIFT INTO CENTRAL NYE/LINCOLN COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON. COULD SEE A BRIEF DECREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE OF PRECIPITATION EARLY THIS EVENING. ANOTHER VORTICITY LOBE IS PROGGED TO MOVE NORTH ACROSS CLARK COUNTY LATE THIS EVENING FOLLOWED BY THE PARENT LOW MOVING INLAND ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTO SOUTHWEST ARIZONA SUNDAY. MADE SOME UPDATES TO POPS THE REST OF TODAY BASED ON CURRENT RADAR COVERAGE. WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE TONIGHT/SUNDAY FORECAST WITH AFTERNOON PACKAGE. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUE SOUTH AND EAST OF THE AIRPORT. THESE SHOWERS ARE NOW GRADUALLY SHIFTING WEST WILL BRING MORE ACTIVITY TO THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT CIGS BETWEEN 5-7K FEET DURING THE DAY. WINDS ARE CURRENTLY OUT OF THE EAST...BUT STAYING BELOW 10KTS AT THE MOMENT WHICH SHOULD KEEP TAILWIND CONCERNS AT BAY ON RUNWAY 25. WITH SHOWERS TO THE EAST THERE REMAINS A SLIGHT POSSIBILITY THAT WINDS WILL PEAK ABOVE 10KTS FROM THE EAST FOR THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS. AFTER THAT POINT WINDS ARE LIKELY SWITCH MORE SOUTHERLY AND BECOME GUSTY AS SHOWERS MOVE INTO THE VICINTY OF THE AIRPORT. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLE. CIGS DOWN TO 3K FEET OR LOWER IN HEAVIER SHOWERS WITH REDUCTIONS IN VSBYS TO UNDER 6SM. EXPECT WIDESPREAD MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS THROUGH SUNDAY. && .SHORT TERM...THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER DAY...ANOTHER APRIL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SET TO IMPACT THE AREA OVER THE WEEKEND. THE CENTER OF THE LOW IS CURRENTLY WELL OFF THE WEST COAST BUT IS FORECAST TO APPROACH THE SOUTHWEST OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND MOVE INLAND OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA/NORTHERN BAJA SUNDAY MORNING. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED ALL WEEKEND ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWA BUT ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECAST WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED DUE TO MODEL FORECAST TIMING AND LOCATION DIFFERENCES REGARDING PRECIPITATION IN GENERAL AND WHERE HEAVIER RAIN MAY FALL. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE BOTH THIS AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY AFTERNOON WHICH WILL LIKELY ENHANCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS AS THEY DID YESTERDAY. A BROAD AREA OF 0.25-0.50 INCH RAIN TOTALS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING BUT SOME AREAS WILL SEE LESS AND THERE WILL LIKELY BE LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS, ESPECIALLY WHERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP. TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEEKEND WILL RUN 7-10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL DUE TO EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER AND SHOWER ACTIVITY. LESS SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE FIRST SYSTEM MOVES EAST AND ANOTHER PACIFIC SYSTEM BEGINS DROPPING DOWN ALONG THE COAST LEAVING THE FORECAST AREA BETWEEN STORMS. WINDS TODAY WILL BE SOUTHERLY 10-20 MPH EXCEPT WHEN ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS AND OUTFLOW. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. ANOTHER PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL PASS ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. EXPECT ANOTHER CHANCE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS, WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE LOW WILL QUICKLY PUSH EAST, WITH A LOW AMPLITUDE SHORTWAVE RIDGE SLIDING OVER THE REGION TUESDAY. THIS SHOULD PROVIDE A BRIEF BREAK IN SHOWERS AHEAD OF YET ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM. A POTENTIALLY STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL BEGIN IMPACTING OUR FORECAST AREA WITH GUSTY SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST WINDS WEDNESDAY. SOME WIND HEADLINES MAY BE NEEDED. PLUS, WE SHOULD SEE A JUMP IN TEMPS WITH THE ADDITIONAL MIXING. THE LATEST MODEL SOLUTIONS REMAIN AT ODDS ON STRENGTH AND A BIT ON TIMING, BUT DO AGREE THAT AT LEAST A DEEP TROUGH, IF NOT A CLOSED LOW, WILL PUSH ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. THE GFS CONTINUES TO BE THE DEEPER, SLOWER, AND WETTER SOLUTION FOR OUR AREA, WITH THE ECMWF KEEPING MOST OF THE PRECIP CONFINED TO THE TERRAIN OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND HAVING THE TROUGH AXIS EAST OF OUR AREA BY DAYBREAK FRIDAY. WE WILL DRY OUT THROUGH THE DAY FRIDAY, AS A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE WORKS INTO THE WESTERN STATES BEHIND THE DEPARTING TROUGH. SATURDAY AND PERHAPS THE ENTIRE WEEKEND LOOKS DRY, WITH A WARMING TREND ANTICIPATED. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && UPDATE...PIERCE AVIATION...LERICOS SHORT TERM...SALMEN LONG TERM...PADDOCK 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), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:10 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water 1-1.5 feet deep flowed into a house near W. Lake Mead Blvd. and N. Tonopah Dr. A patio awning in North Las Vegas collapsed under the weight of heavy rain. Water 6-12 inches deep flowed over several streets around the valley.
Mud and large rocks washed over Northshore Road near mile marker 27.
Water and mud flowed over Valley of Fire Highway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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: 619627, 619628, 619629.