A strong cold front blasted through the Mojave Desert, bringing high winds and ending a period of record warmth.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
A strong cold front blasted through the Mojave Desert, bringing high winds and ending a period of record warmth.
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 Nov 27, 9:15 AM PST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 915 AM PST Mon Nov 27 2017 .SYNOPSIS...A fast moving cold front will bring strong winds and cooler temperatures to the region today. There is a chance of rain and high elevation snow in the Sierra and across the southern Great Basin with mainly dry conditions elsewhere. An unsettled weather pattern will lead to more seasonal temperatures for the rest of the week. && .UPDATE...A low pressure system will move rapidly from the Sierra (its current position at 9 am) to southeast Utah by 10 pm this evening. Winds have responded overnight in Owens Valley with gusts near 50 mph and locally over 60 mph. This morning we are seeing the stronger winds develop east of the Sierra across Inyo, Esmeralda, Nye and portions of Lincoln and Clark counties. Widespread gusts 40- 50 mph with local gusts to 60 mph already reported. Expect strong winds to continue spreading east and south today. By 9 am, a cold front had pushed through much of Esmeralda County and was just moving into central Nye and northern Inyo counties. Gusts up to 35 mph have been measured with the front. Wind Advisories are in effect for most areas through 8 pm this evening and expect areas of blowing dust restricting visibilities. Showers and high elevation snow up to 4 inches reported by automated sensors in the Sierra thus far with showers/snow expected to spread across the southern Great Basin today. The deserts across the southern areas should remain dry. Temperatures were fluctuating wildly this morning with cooler temperatures in areas where winds were calm and much warmer where winds were blowing. At one point, McCarran airport reported 60 degrees and the same time the weather office had 73 degrees. When the winds kicked in at McCarran, the temperature shot up to 73 degrees. The 73 degrees has been the high so far today and is likely to be the official high when the day closes at midnight. -Salmen && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Strong southwest winds occasionally gusting around 40 knots will persist through early afternoon then will abruptly shift from the northwest with gusts 25-30 knots during the late afternoon and early evening behind behind a passing cold front. Moderate turbulence is possible through much of the day. Breezy north or northwest winds will linger into Tuesday morning. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Gusty southwest winds overspread the region this morning with a cold front quickly sliding from northwest to southeast through the day. Winds will shift to north or northwest first near KBIH and the southern Great Basin, with the wind shift arriving down the Colorado River this evening. Widespread gusts of 25-35 knots are likely both ahead of and behind the cold front, with winds gradually relaxing overnight. In addition to the wind, occasional shower activity is likely near KBIH and most of the southern Great Basin through this afternoon. -Adair && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...341 AM PST... .SHORT TERM...through Wednesday night. Satellite shows mid-high clouds streaming inland across southern California and southern Nevada this morning ahead of upper trough near San Francisco. So far, observations indicate generally a tenth of an inch or less of rain in the Owens Valley and adjacent foothills. Near real-time reports estimate 2-4 inches of new snow in the southern Sierra at elevations between 9000 and 10500 feet. The upper trough near San Francisco will quickly shift east across southern Nevada today. Band of mid-high clouds progged to shift east of the area by early afternoon while lower clouds and precipitation associated with cold front develop across south central Nevada as well as the Spring Mtns and Sheep Range. Precipitation totals across southern Nevada will be a tenth of an inch or less. The exception could be the mountains of northern Lincoln County with up to two tenth of an inch. Again, primary hazard of the day will be the wind. Seeing some wind gusts between 40-50 mph already this morning in the upper elevation of the Spring Mtns. Just starting to see some isolated gusts around 40 mph at slightly lower elevation in the western Mojave Desert and south central Nevada. Made no change to existing wind products as entire region should see wind gusts of 40-55 mph. We are likely setting near our high temperatures for the day at many spots due to the wind. Temperatures should start to cool this afternoon behind the cold frontal passage. Any lingering showers over northern Mohave County/eastern Lincoln County will come to an end this evening as trough quickly moves east toward the Four Corners. The rest of the period looks dry. A weak ridge will be over the region Tuesday. Next trough still expected to split Wednesday with northern stream energy brushing northern Nevada. More uncertainty regarding southern stream energy with ECMWF developing a closed low well southwest of San Diego. NAM/GFS keep the low closer to the southern California/Baja Peninsula coast. Some north breezes possible both days. .LONG TERM...Thursday through Monday. Thursday and Friday will be dry and seasonable with flat high pressure sitting over the region and the Pacific cut-off low meandering off the Northern Baja Coast. As this point, its beginning to appear that the aforementioned cut-off low will pass too far south to have a substancial effect on our regional weather. This will keep precipitation chances low until later Saturday for most of the region as a larger Pacific trough develops over Northern California. Confidence over the weekend remains low, although at least the forecast models have been consistent within themselves thus far. The ECMWF continues to advertise a cold and potentially wet scenario, while the GFS suggests a more progressive trough with cooling temperatures and precipitation generally north of Las Vegas. About 1/3rd of the GFS Ensembles represent the ECMWF scenario, though the mean favors the more progressive trough. Until greater confidence is achieved, I just took a middle ground approach with cooling temperatures over the weekend and maintained widespread but generally low (20-30%) precipitation chances. Regardless of the eventual outcome, much more December-like temperatures can be expected from the Sunday onward. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...The region will experience strong winds today. Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && Short term...Pierce Long term/Aviation...Outler 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.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The peak gust occurred at Barstow-Daggett Airport. In Yermo, blowing dust reduced visibility and old communication lines were blown down next to the railroad tracks.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in California, November 2017
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: 724812.