Another unseasonably cold Pacific storm system tapped into unseasonably high moisture levels and produced a rare May thunderstorm event over the Mojave Desert. A few storms produced flash flooding.
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.
Another unseasonably cold Pacific storm system tapped into unseasonably high moisture levels and produced a rare May thunderstorm event over the Mojave Desert. A few storms produced flash flooding.
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 May 7, 2:03 PM PST, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 303 PM PDT SAT MAY 7 2016 .SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE WILL KEEP UNSEASONABLY COOL CONDITIONS AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA THROUGH SUNDAY. A DRIER WEATHER PATTERN WILL SET UP FOR THE WORK WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO ABOVE NORMAL BY WEDNESDAY. && .DISCUSSION...BIGGEST CONCERN IS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BROAD UPPER LOW OVERHEAD PLUS SOME SUNSHINE PLUS DIFFERENTIAL HEATING BOUNDARIES FUELING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THE MAIN ISSUES HAVE BEEN LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WITH TRAINING AND BACK BUILDING STORMS AND ALSO LOTS OF SMALL HAIL WHICH IS BEING HELPED ALONG BY THE UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT. ACTIVITY SHOULD DECREASE AROUND SUNSET AS THE LOW LEVELS COOL AND THE COLUMN STABILIZES. THE LOW WILL SLOWLY MOVE AWAY TO THE EAST TOMORROW...LEAVING OUR AREA IN NORTHERLY CYCLONICALLY CURVED FLOW ALOFT. WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE STILL IN PLACE...THIS SHOULD LEAD TO A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY FOR THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF CLARK AND MOHAVE COUNTIES. FOR MONDAY...THE LOW WILL BE GONE...BUT A SECOND SYSTEM DIGGING OUT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST MIGHT KICK OFF A FEW SHOWERS OVER THE SIERRA AND THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF LINCOLN COUNTY. THE REST OF THE AREA SHOULD BE DRY. CYCLONIC FLOW AND RESIDUAL MOISTURE COULD KEEP A FEW SHOWERS GOING IN THE SAME AREAS TUESDAY...THEN RIDGING BUILDS IN AFTERWARD FOR A DRY FORECAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL RISE SEVERAL DEGREES IN MOST AREAS FROM TODAY TO SUNDAY AND SEVERAL MORE DEGREES MONDAY AS THE AIRMASS DRIES OUT AND CLOUDS DECREASE. THE WARMING TREND WILL THEN CONTINUE AT A SLOWER RATE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES POSSIBLY REACHING 95F IN LAS VEGAS AND 105F IN DEATH VALLEY. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE VICINITY OF MCCARRAN THROUGH SUNSET BEFORE STARTING TO DIMINISH. HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL...AND VARIABLE WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 25 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY STORM. CIGS DOWN TO 6K FEET. AWAY FROM STORMS CIGS WILL RANGE FROM 10-12K FEET AND WINDS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN UNDER 10 KTS. OVERNIGHT FEW-SCT CLOUDS 10-12K FEET WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS 7 KTS. ISOLD TSRA PSBL SUNDAY...BUT COVERAGE LOOKS TO BE LESS THAN SATURDAY. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER MAINLY CLARK...MOHAVE...LINCOLN AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES. GUSTY AND VARIABLE WINDS TO 25 KTS...SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED WITH ANY STORM. CIGS DOWN TO 5-6K FEET AT TIMES. INYO AND SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES WILL SEE MORE ISOLATED SHOWER AND STORMS WITH SCT-BKN080-100 FEET. OVERNIGHT FEW-SCT CLOUDS 8-10K FEET WITH SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS STILL POSSIBLE OVER MAINLY MOHAVE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. ON SUNDAY...SHRA/TSRA WILL BE FEWER IN COVERAGE AND MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. GUSTY AND ERRATIC WIND STILL POSSIBLE WITH STORMS ON SUNDAY. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...ACTIVE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. && MORGAN/GORELOW 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), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:04 UTC.
3 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to nickel size covered the ground near the travel plaza at I-15 Exit 75.
Highway 169 was impassable due to about a foot of water over the road.
Valley of Fire Highway was impassable due to fast flowing water over a 100 yard long section of the road.
Mud and debris washed onto North Shore Road near mile marker 46. St. Thomas Road was also 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, May 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: 623798, 623799, 623800, 623801.