A strong cold front passing through the region brought high southwest winds ahead of it and high north winds behind it, along with some snow to Lincoln County.
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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 cold front passing through the region brought high southwest winds ahead of it and high north winds behind it, along with some snow to Lincoln County.
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 Dec 20, 10:05 AM PST, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 1005 AM PST Wed Dec 20 2017 .SYNOPSIS...Big changes in store over the next couple of days as a cold front sweeps through the region. Strong winds, much cooler temperatures, and a chance of rain and snow showers will be in store later today through Thursday. Cooler and dry conditions will then persist into the holiday weekend. && .Update...Strong cold front currently moving through northern Nevada will continue to work south today with strong southwest winds developing ahead of the front and cold post frontal northwest winds behind. Strong upper forcing along with enough available moisture will likely lead to a period of moderate to heavy precipitation along and behind the front across the far northern zones...especially northern and central Lincoln County. Snow levels are expected to drop rather quickly behind the front and snow could become moderate to heavy at times. Have gone ahead and issued a Winter Weather Advisory for mainly northern and central Lincoln County for late this afternoon until early Thursday morning. The remainder of the forecast in good shape and no updates planned. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... 318 AM PST Wed Dec 20 2017 .SHORT TERM...through Friday night. Satellite showing area of high clouds which enhanced over parts of Inyo County and south central Nevada last evening starting to break apart as it moves east. Elsewhere, lower clouds are banked up against the western Sierra slopes while cooling cloud tops associated with the cold front is just entering far northwest Nevada. Overall, forecast was changed little through Friday night. Surface observations showing strong southwest winds as far south as the Mammoth Airport this morning. Those stronger winds will sag south and encompass the eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County through midday. Hi-Res models showing little support for downslope winds making it all the way into the Owens Valley this morning but its something that will be monitored. Elsewhere, gusty prefrontal west-southwest winds develop midday across northern San Bernardino County, southeast Nevada and northwest Arizona. Nearly at the same time postfrontal northerly winds will develop in Esmeralda County and spread south into Inyo and central Nye Counties during the afternoon. Eventually those stronger postfrontal northerly winds will reach our southern zones early this evening. Those northerly winds may slacken off a bit tonight but will increase once again Thursday morning before beginning to weaken late Thursday afternoon. Gusts up to 50 mph possible in some valley locations while gusts approaching 60 mph possible in the higher terrain. Mix of rain/snow showers along the cold front will turn to all snow behind the cold front as colder air sweeps in. Lincoln County still looking like the area to see greatest accumulation of several inches tonight. Some light flurries continue into Thursday near the Utah border with both Lincoln and Mohave Counties. Elsewhere, it will be dry but blustery with gusty north winds and colder temperatures. Any lingering north winds will be concentrated into the lower Colorado River Valley Friday while temperatures remain several degrees below normal. Some of the coldest morning lows we have experienced are possible Friday and Saturday mornings. Some Freeze products may be necessary. .LONG TERM...Saturday through Tuesday. A return to mild and dry weather is in store for the long term as high pressure rebuilds along the West Coast. This will keep the any Pacific storm systems blocked from approaching the region and delivering any potential precipitation, and will also promote gradually warming temperatures for the beginning of next week. MOS guidance suggests temperatures returning into the 60/70s across most of the Mojave Desert as early as Sunday but tempered the warming trend slightly given the likelihood of valley inversions this time of the year. Nonetheless, above normal temperatures and continued dry weather is expected. && .Fire Weather...Due to the very dry Fall, fuels for this time of year are quite dry. Given the strength of the winds, very dry air, and fuel susceptibility, a Red Flag Warning is in effect for the eastern slopes of the southern Sierra and Owens Valley of Inyo County. A Red Flag warning is also in effect for the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range along with the lower elevations of the Colorado River Valley through Thursday afternoon. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Brief period of northeast winds between 18z-19z with speeds generally between 7-10 kts. Winds are then expected to shift to the southwest and become gusty this afternoon with gusts likely 40 to 45 kts, but its possible that winds could briefly gust to 50 kts between 00z and 03z. Between 02z-04z, winds will shift to the northwest and remain gusty as the cold front passes through. Anticipate moderate turbulence downwind of the mountains. Periods of high clouds will lead to SCT skies from this evening through Wednesday afternoon. CIGs may drop to 7-9 kft this evening with the cold frontal passage. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...A low pressure system will lead to a strong, gusty south-southwest winds ahead of quick moving cold front. Anticipate southwest wind speeds between 20-30 kts and gusts between 35-50 kts. Expect an abrupt shift to the northwest as the front passes, with similar speeds to the earlier southwest winds. Anticipate moderate turbulence downwind of area mountains. High clouds will lead to SCT skies. Along the cold front CIGs lowering 5-7 kft associated with rain showers quickly changing over to snow showers. Mtns obscured especially in Lincoln County where snow showers will be most widespread. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && Update...Gorelow Short Term/Aviation/Fire Weather...Pierce Long Term...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.
3 high wind, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
The peak gust was measured 1 mile W of Summerlin.
The peak gust was measured 1 mile ESE of Red Rock Canyon.
This gust occurred 38 miles ENE of Beatty.
Snow in Lincoln County resulted in dangerous driving conditions between mile markers 65 and 87 on Highway 93. Visibility was less than 100 feet in blowing snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 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: 726334, 726335, 726336, 726337.