A strong Pacific storm system brought high winds to the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert, high winds and severe thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert, and heavy snow to the southern Great Basin. The episode continued into February.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 high winds to the Owens Valley and Mojave Desert, high winds and severe thunderstorms to the Mojave Desert, and heavy snow to the southern Great Basin. The episode continued into February.
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 Jan 30, 3:23 PM PST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 323 PM PST SAT JAN 30 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A POTENT PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING STRONG WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TO THE EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION SPREADING ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE DESERTS TODAY WITH GUSTY NORTH WINDS PUSHING ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. ONE MORE WARM DAY TODAY BEFORE TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO TUMBLE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... WIND PRODUCTS WORKING OUT WELL THIS AFTERNOON WITH DUST BEING KICKED UP OFF THE DRY LAKE BEDS SCATTERED ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT. HAVE SEEN THE VISIBILITY BRIEFLY GO UNDER 2 MILES AT THE BARSTOW-DAGGETT AIRPORT. THE DEEP MIXING HAS LEAD TO OUR WARMEST TEMPERATURES OF 2016 WITH A NEW RECORED HIGH SET IN LAS VEGAS. BROKE THE ONE THAT WAS SET ONLY TWO YEARS AGO. AS FOR PRECIPITATION...DUE TO STRONG WINDS ALOFT LIGHT SHOWERS HAVE SPILLED OVER THE CREST AND DOWN INTO THE OWENS VALLEY MUCH OF THE DAY. HOWEVER...THOSE SHOWERS ARE NOT MAKING IT MUCH FURTHER EAST. THERE HAS ALSO BEEN SOME LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE SNOW IN CENTRAL NEVADA BETWEEN TONOPAH AND ELY NEAR THE COLD FRONT. HIGH WINDS ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT EXPECTED TO DECREASE LATE THIS EVENING WHILE ANY PRECIPITATION STAYS CONFINED TO FAR WESTERN INYO COUNTY AND CENTRAL NEVADA. MAIN PRECIPITATION EVENT STILL SLATED TO IMPACT THE REGION LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY. PRECIPITATION IN THE WARM SECTOR AHEAD OF THE INCOMING TROUGH WILL EXPAND IN COVERAGE ACROSS SOUTHERN NEVADA SUNDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE SHIFTING EAST INTO MOHAVE COUNTY SUNDAY EVENING. AN AREA OF WRAP AROUND MOISTURE ALONG WITH MUCH COLDER AIR WILL THEN DEVELOP ACROSS LINCOLN/CLARK COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT SUNDAY BEFORE SLIDING EAST ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY DURING THE DAY MONDAY. SNOW LEVELS IN THE WARM SECTOR SUNDAY WILL RANGE BETWEEN 5000 AND 7000 FEET. ONCE THE COLD AIR ARRIVES SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY SNOW LEVELS WILL QUICKLY FALL TO 2500-3000 FEET. IF THE TIMING IS JUST RIGHT ITS POSSIBLE THAT A FEW FLURRIES COULD BE SPOTTY IN THE VEGAS SKY MONDAY MORNING. GREATEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE ABOVE 4000 FEET. UPGRADED THE WINTER STORM WATCH TO A WINTER STORM WARNING. FEEL CONFIDENT WARNING LEVEL SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE REACHED IN LINCOLN COUNTY AND THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY. NOT SO MUCH FOR THE SPRING MOUNTAINS AS A FEW MODELS ARE LIGHTER WITH THEIR QPF AMOUNTS JUST WEST OF LAS VEGAS. ADDED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY AS WELL. AFTER THE LULL IN THE WINDS LATER TONIGHT/SUNDAY THEY WILL INCREASE AGAIN ACROSS THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. JUST BEHIND THE COLD FRONT SUNDAY NIGHT NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE IN ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES. WINDS ALOFT SUPPORT GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH SO HIGH WIND WATCHES WERE ISSUED. ADDITIONAL WIND PRODUCTS WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ON MONDAY FOR THE POST FRONTAL NORTHERLY WINDS. HOPE NO ONE GOT OVERLY SPOILED BY THE WARM TEMPERATURES TODAY AS THE BOTTOM FALLS OUT WITH READINGS SOME 10-15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL MONDAY AND TUESDAY. AFTER THIS SYSTEM, THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY LOOKS DRY WITH TEMPERATURES GRADUALLY MODERATING. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL PERSIST THIS EVENING WITH SPEEDS OF 10-15KTS AND GUSTS TO 20KTS POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL TAPER OFF SLOWLY AFTER SUNSET. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL RETURN TOMORROW AFTER 18Z WITH GUSTS TO 30KTS POSSIBLE. INCREASING CLOUDS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH DECREASING CIGS TO NEAR 10K BY SUNRISE OR SHORTLY AFTER. CIGS WILL CONTINUE TO FALL THROUGH THE DAY WITH RAIN BREAKING OUT BY LATE IN THE DAY. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS LIKELY THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS TOMORROW. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...STRONG WEST OR SOUTHWEST WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT THIS EVENING ESPECIALLY NEAR KDAG WHERE GUSTS MAY EXCEED 50KTS AT TIMES. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST AND LOW LEVEL TURBULENCE CAN BE EXPECTED. ELSEWHERE LIGHTER WINDS ARE EXPECTED BUT MUCH OF THE REGION WILL BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO BREEZY SOUTHWEST WINDS THIS EVENING AND AGAIN TOMORROW. OTHERWISE...INCREASING CLOUDS EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH RAIN AND LOW LEVEL CLOUD COVER INCREASING DURING THE DAY SUNDAY. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE LIKELY ALONG WITH POCKETS OF TURBULENCE AND ICING. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...HIGH WINDS AND SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH MONDAY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED HOWEVER PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && DISCUSSION...PIERCE AVIATION...OUTLER FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER !--NOT SENT--!
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
439 PM PST SAT JAN 30 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0155 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 10 NNE FORT IRWIN 35.40N 116.62W
01/30/2016 M89 MPH SAN BERNARDINO CA MESONET
BICYCLE LAKE OBS SITE RECORDED A WIND GUST
OF 89 MPH.
&&
JPThe Cedar City radar (KICX), 178 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:47 UTC.
2 heavy snow, 1 lightning, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell in Lincoln County, with 14 inches estimated in Pioche, 10 inches estimated in Caliente, and nine inches measured in Rachel. The event continued into (and reached warning criteria during) February.
Twelve inches of snow fell at Goldfield. The event continued into February.
Lightning set fire to a house and tree at the Las Vegas Country Club.
Dime size hail also fell.
This gust occurred 6 miles W of Laughlin.
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, January 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: 611785, 611781, 611782, 611783, 611784.