Temperatures in Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat Warning levels on seven of eight days. There were 15 direct and 13 indirect heat related fatalities from the 23rd through the 31st.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Temperatures in Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat Warning levels on seven of eight days. There were 15 direct and 13 indirect heat related fatalities from the 23rd through the 31st.
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 Jul 21, 7:15 AM PST, 16 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 815 AM PDT THU JUL 21 2016 .SYNOPSIS...A dome of high pressure will cover much of the country through the weekend resulting in hot weather conditions across the region. Mohave County Arizona will see one more day of showers and thunderstorms today before drier air pushes in and ends shower chances for the remainder of the week. && .UPDATE...Only very minor adjustments made to the forecast this morning. Looks like conditions today will be very similar to Wednesday with convection confined mainly to Northwest Arizona. Convection may be a little weaker in intensity this afternoon due to the lack of stronger upper level support today. Otherwise...dry and warm with many desert locales reaching or exceeding 110 this afternoon. -Outler- && .SHORT TERM...through Saturday night. Little change in the synoptic weather pattern this morning with a large dome of high pressure encompassing much of the country. A eastern Pacific shortwave will move into Oregon and Washington states later today and this could enhance gustiness over the southern Great Basin this afternoon. This shortwave is forecast to ride along the northern tier states adjacent to the Canadian border which in turn suppresses the high pressure dome and allows it to shift westward through the short term. Temperatures through Saturday are expected to be 5-7 degrees above normal area wide but could be a little lower where cloud cover develops especially Mohave County. Expect some high cloudiness associated with a weak wave making its way into the region today from the southwest. In fact, clouds were already pushing into San Bernardino county as of 2 am. Otherwise, thicker cloud cover will be found across Mohave County today where a chance of showers and thunderstorms are forecast. Based on forecasted precipitable water, 850mb dewpoint temps and stability progs suggest some heavy rain producing storms and localized nuisance flooding are possible today with storms that form in Mohave County. After today, the upper flow takes a westerly turn Friday and Saturday essentially pushing moisture east of the area and bringing an end, for now, of thunderstorm activity in Mohave County. .LONG TERM...Sunday through Wednesday. A ridge of high pressure will stretch from southern California across southern Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico Sunday. This will result in hot and mainly dry conditions with temperatures roughly 5 degrees above normal. Monsoon moisture will mainly be suppressed south and east of the area but an isolated afternoon thunderstorm or two cannot totally be ruled out over southeast Mohave County Sunday afternoon. The models are now gradually shifting the ridge axis north, more across Nevada and Utah by Wednesday. This would allow monsoon moisture to creep north and west. For now I kept thunderstorm chances confined to Mohave County Monday...spreading just into southern Clark and eastern San Bernardino County by Wednesday. Confidence in how far north and west the moisture reaches remains somewhat low as models 24 hours ago were keeping the moisture mainly south and east of the forecast area. Temperatures after Sunday will likely cool slightly due to increased moisture and cloud cover but will remain above normal, unless moisture really increases more than expected. && .FIRE WEATHER... Dry weather will continue over most of the area through the weekend with hot temperatures, low humidity and breezy conditions at times. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms can be expected across northwest Arizona again today with the potential for wetting rains. No thunderstorms are forecast for Friday or Saturday. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Winds will favor diurnal trends through the TAF period. Southerly winds will continue through the day with occasional higher gusts this afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms will be possible across the Peach Spring Corridor through the evening but no thunderstorms are expected in the airport vicinity. For the rest of southern Nevada...northwest Arizona...and southeast California...Winds favoring diurnal patterns expected across most areas through the morning hours becoming gusty out of the southwest this afternoon and evening. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms will be possible across northwest Arizona today which may produce strong gusts and erratic surface winds. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotter activation is not expected at this time. Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather using standard operating procedures. && Salmen/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 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Two people died of heat related causes during the same heat wave which claimed 26 lives in Las Vegas.
Temperatures in Las Vegas reached Excessive Heat Warning levels on seven of eight days from the 22nd through the 29th. There were 13 direct and 13 indirect heat related fatalities from the 23rd through the 31st.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excessive Heat, Lake Mead/Lake Mohave National Recreation Area | 2016-07-27 | 58 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Lake Mead/Lake Mohave National Recreation Area | 2016-07-29 | 68 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-28 | 57 | Male | Unknown | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 61 | Male | Mobile/Trailer Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-24 | 69 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-27 | 49 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 77 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-23 | 88 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-27 | 73 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-31 | 68 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-24 | 87 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-28 | 58 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 84 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 76 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 85 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-30 | 70 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-31 | 65 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-31 | 64 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-23 | 80 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-24 | 71 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-25 | 66 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-31 | 64 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-27 | 81 | Male | Permanent Structure | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-30 | 88 | Female | Permanent Structure | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-25 | 62 | Male | Permanent Structure | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-26 | 52 | Female | Permanent Structure | Direct |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-29 | 43 | Male | Permanent Structure | Indirect |
| Excessive Heat, Las Vegas Valley | 2016-07-24 | 66 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
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, July 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: 646641, 646642.