A wet Pacific storm brought heavy rain and localized flooding to the lower elevations of the Mojave Desert and heavy snow to the mountains.
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 wet Pacific storm brought heavy rain and localized flooding to the lower elevations of the Mojave Desert and heavy snow to the mountains.
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 Dec 23, 2:33 PM PST, 6 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 233 PM PST Fri Dec 23 2016 .SYNOPSIS...The next system will move across the Sierra this evening and into the deserts tonight before exiting to the east on Saturday night. Valley rain and heavy mountain snows are the primary concern, along with gusty winds, creating dangerous travel conditions into Christmas Eve. Cooler air will be in place for the holiday and into next week. && .SHORT TERM...After morning fog and low clouds the area is set for the next system. The main trough is off of the California coast and the precip band ahead of the trough is impacting the southern Sierra. The band of rain and snow will work its way across the deserts this evening...reaching the Las Vegas Valley by midnight and into northwest Arizona by 12Z. No major changes made to the precip forecast, but have slightly lowered snow levels, especially behind the trough when snow showers/flurries may make it into some of the higher deserts at or below 3000 feet, which would include some of the communities in the Las Valley, like Summerlin, Anthem and Madeira Canyon. Main snow impacts continue to be above 6000 feet, but light accumulations of snow are expected in Mountain Pass along Interstate 15, Mountain Springs Summit on Hwy 160 and Hwy 395 near Bishop tonight and along Interstate 40 east of Kingman on Saturday. Rainfall looks to be heaviest in Lincoln and Mohave Counties, where 1.0-1.5 inches is possible with 0.25-0.50 inches in many valley locations. The storm system will be exiting to the east on Christmas (Sunday). A little moisture wrapping around the back side of the low may linger over northern Mohave County leading to a slight chance of light snow Christmas morning. All of the forecast area should be dry by the afternoon as the upper low moves into the northern plains. Winds look to be generally light but temperatures will be nearly 10 degrees below normal in the wake of the strong upper low. && .LONG TERM...Sunday through Thursday Another upper low off the California coast will dive south to west of San Diego or northern Baja Monday with a west/northwest flow across northern Nevada. Most model solutions keep the low off Baja through Thursday with a ridge building over California. This leads to a dry forecast for the area with temperatures warming to normal levels by Wednesday. && .AVIATION...for McCarran...South winds at 10-15 kts are generally expected tonight, but there may be occasionally stronger winds of 15- 20 kts with gusts of 30 kts but they are not expected to be persistent. CIGS have been quite variable across the valley this afternoon with BKN030 to the north of KLAS but AOB 12kt feet at KLAS. Expect generally BKN120-150 into early evening but pockets of BKN030-050 will gradually expand through the valley. Lower CIGS return by 03Z and will continue to lower overnight with showers and fog and persist through early afternoon on Saturday. Main band of rain should push to the east of KLAS between 15 and 18Z Saturday. For the rest of southern Nevada...northwest Arizona...and southeast California...Wind will increase for much of the area this evening at 10-20 kts and gusts to 30kt. However, there will be some localized gusts to around 40 kts. A band of rain and snow will work through the area tonight and Saturday with CIGS BKN015-030 as a rule but localized CIGS of BKN010 and VSBY less than 3 SM. Mountains will be obscured tonight much of Saturday. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report rain and/or snow amounts along with any road closures, snow levels, or other weather-related impacts through Saturday. && Short Term/Aviation: Czyzyk Long Term: Harrison 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 heavy snow, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
One to two feet of snow fell in and around Pioche.
Several stations reported between 10 and 18 inches of snow.
Red Rock Canyon was closed due to flooding.
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, December 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: 667737, 667736, 667738.