A strong Pacific storm system brought locally high winds to the Mojave Desert.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 strong Pacific storm system brought locally high winds to 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 Feb 17, 2:42 PM PST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 242 PM PST WED FEB 17 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A QUICK HITTING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT THE REGION THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING WITH INCREASED CLOUDS...GUSTY WINDS...AND PRECIPITATION CHANCES. IMPACTS WILL BE GREATEST ACROSS THE SIERRA WHERE SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS LIKELY ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS. LIGHT PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL SPREAD ACROSS ALL AREAS NORTH OF I-40 BY THURSDAY MORNING BEFORE ENDING THURSDAY AFTERNOON. DRY WEATHER AND GRADUAL WARMING WILL RETURN FOR THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. THE ADVERTISED PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM IS ON ITS WAY. THE CORE OF THE SYSTEM REMAINS WELL OFF THE PACIFIC NW COAST MOVING EASTWARD WITH A TRAILING COLD FRONT EXTENDED DOWN ALONG THE WEST COAST. IR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THE SYSTEM HAS DEVELOPED A NICE TROPICAL TAP AND IS FEEDING MOISTURE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. OVERALL, FORECAST DETAILS HAVE CHANGED LITTLE AS WINDS ACROSS THE AREA HAVE BEGUN TO RESPOND TO THE INCOMING SYSTEM. WINDS ARE NEAR ADVISORY LEVEL IN NYE AND PORTIONS OF INYO COUNTY WHERE WIND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT AND ARE ALSO INCREASING IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS WHERE A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT. ELSEWHERE, WINDS ARE GENERALLY GUSTING BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH AT THIS TIME. RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS SHOWER ACTIVITY CONTINUING OVER THE SIERRA WITH THE DEEPER MOISTURE BAND FORECAST TO ENHANCE SNOWFALL OVERNIGHT. THE LATEST MODEL DATA FORECAST UPWARDS OF 20 INCHES IN THE SIERRA AT THE PEAKS WITH 12-18 INCHES ABOVE 8000 FEET. THIS LINES UP WELL WITH THE ONGOING WINTER STORM WARNING ALREADY IN EFFECT. LESSER AMOUNTS ARE FORECAST IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS WHERE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT. ELSEWHERE, IF SNOW LEVELS DROP BEFORE THE MOISTURE IS PUSHED EAST, 1-3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND IN THE SPRING MOUNTAINS THURSDAY MORNING. EXPECTED PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS UNCHANGED FROM THE PREVIOUS FORECAST PACKAGE AND ARE LISTED BELOW... * TRACE TO 0.20 INCHES IN VALLEY LOCATIONS NORTH OF I-40 * 0.20-0.40 INCHES IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN NORTH OF I-15 * 0.40-0.60 INCHES IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF LINCOLN COUNTY * 0.33-0.75 INCHES IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS * 0.33-1.00 INCHES IN THE SIERRA (UP TO 1.5 INCHES NEAR THE CREST) SNOW WILL TAPER OFF IN THE SIERRA AND WHITE MOUNTAINS THURSDAY MORNING AS THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST WITH SKIES BEGINNING TO CLEAR. THE BEST CHANCE OF RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW SHIFTS TO THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN THURSDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN THURSDAY AS THE SYSTEM CROSSES THE FORECAST AREA. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW WINDY CONDITIONS THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH MID AFTERNOON ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA THEN RAPIDLY DECREASING BY LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER THURSDAY...GENERALLY 10-15 DEGREES COOLER THAN WEDNESDAY. CLEARING CONDITIONS ARE STILL EXPECTED THURSDAY NIGHT WITH A DRY...WARMER PERIOD BEGINNING FRIDAY. THE ONLY OTHER ITEM TO NOTE IS A PACIFIC SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FRIDAY BRINGING AN INCREASE IN WINDS TO THE SIERRA CREST. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE PERSISTENT FEBRUARY RIDGE WILL RETURN IN FULL FORCE OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK PROVIDING DRY WEATHER AND WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES...SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING THE PAST 10 DAYS. A MINOR DELAY TO THIS PATTERN WILL BE A PACIFIC NORTHWEST TROUGH WHICH WILL LIFT INLAND FRIDAY AND BRUSH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHWEST NEVADA. IT WILL HAVE MINIMAL EFFECT ON OUR REA BUT SHOULD PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA RIDGE TOPS AND SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 10-20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE RIDGE WILL THEN BEGIN TO BUILD OVER THE WESTERN STATES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND CONTINUE AMPLIFYING THROUGH TUESDAY. ASIDE FROM A WARMING TREND...THIS WILL LEAD TO GUSTY NORTH WINDS DOWN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY...ESPECIALLY NEAR LAUGHLIN AND BULLHEAD CITY SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ANOTHER PACIFIC TROUGH IS FORECAST TO BRUSH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY BUT THE ECMWF AND GFS INDICATE THIS FEATURE WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON THE FORECAST AREA...SIMILAR TO WHAT IS EXPECTED THIS FRIDAY. THE RIDGE THEN QUICKLY REBUILDS BEHIND IT AND HOLDS THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO MIX DOWN TO THE SURFACE BEFORE 02Z THIS EVENING...MOST LIKELY BY 00Z. WHEN THEY DO SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 10-15 KTS WITH GUSTS 20-25 KTS. SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN ABOVE 8 KTS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND THEN INCREASE FURTHER THURSDAY MORNING. WINDS OF 15-25 KTS AND GUSTS TO 25-35 KTS ARE EXPECTED DURING MUCH OF THE MORNING...THEN DECREASING DURING THE AFTERNOON. CIGS WILL FALL RAPIDLY THIS EVENING DOWN TO AROUND 10K FEET (FEW-SCT DOWN TO 5-8K FEET) BY 04Z AS A BAND OF LIGHT RAIN (MAINLY VIRGA) MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IS NOT CURRENTLY EXPECTED AT THE TERMINAL. AREAS OF MECHANICAL TURBULENCE SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE SPRING MOUNTAINS NOW THROUGH THURSDAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SPEEDS OF 15-25 KTS AND GUSTS 25-35 KTS COMMON...STRONGER TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF LAS VEGAS. WINDS WILL REMAIN ELEVATED OVERNIGHT AND THROUGH MUCH OF THURSDAY AS A STRONG SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. BKN-OVC CIGS WILL LOWER ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING...DOWN TO 8-10 K FEET (FEW- SCT DOWN TO 4-8K FEET) AS A BAND OF LIGHT RAIN (MAINLY VIRGA AROUND LAS VEGAS) PUSHES ACROSS THE AREA. AREAS OF MECHANICAL TURBULENCE SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF MOUNTAIN RANGES NOW THROUGH THURSDAY. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THEREAFTER...PLEASE REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && SHORT TERM...SALMEN AVIATION...WOLCOTT LONG TERM...ADAIR 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.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred 2 miles N of Amargosa Valley.
This gust occurred 3 miles NE of Mount Charleston.
This gust occurred 40 miles E of Beatty.
High winds affected much of the Las Vegas Valley. A carport was damaged at an apartment complex in the NW part of the valley.
These gusts occurred 1 mile ESE of Red Rock Canyon.
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, February 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: 619471, 619472, 619473, 619475, 619474.