Two people died in Las Vegas of Cold related causes.
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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.
Two people died in Las Vegas of Cold related causes.
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 2, 10:00 PM PST, 2 hours earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 1000 PM PST Mon Jan 2 2017 .SYNOPSIS...Breezy to windy conditions will continue through this evening across much of the region. A persistent westerly flow aloft will lead to periods of considerable cloudiness over the region through much of the week while significant snowfall will be possible in the higher elevations of the Sierra. Temperatures this week look to be fairly close to normal for this time of year. && .UPDATE...Wind Advisory for the deserts was cancelled early, and High Wind Warning for the Sierra and Owens Valley has expired. No other changes at this time. && .PREV DISCUSSION... 245 PM PST Mon Jan 2 2017 .DISCUSSION...Tonight through Monday. Strong winds have been somewhat spotty and intermittent today but every now and then we see observations verifying the advisory and we also got a report from near Bishop, California of a gust to 65 mph this afternoon, verifying the high wind warning there. I opted to keep the high wind warning and wind advisories going although they are a bit marginal as mentioned in previous discussions. The thick cloud shield which was over the area much of the day is starting to exit to the east but overall I expect to see periods of considerable high cloud cover the next couple of days in a strong westerly flow aloft. Models continue to hang on to precipitation over portions of Lincoln and Mohave County through tonight so I kept slight chance pops going for now though confidence in precipitation occurring is pretty low. An upper low will be located off the Pacific Northwest coast tonight through Wednesday. Most of the area will be dry under this pattern with periods of considerable high cloudiness as already mentioned. Although dynamics will be lacking, there will be enough lower level moisture eventually for a chance of light precipitation across portions of the southern Great Basin by Tuesday night and through Wednesday. Snow will probably move into the Sierra by Tuesday and could be heavy at times at higher elevations Tuesday night and Wednesday. Right now we are forecasting the more significant snowfall above 9500 feet which is above the level where we typically consider watches or warning so none were issued. The models continue to differ with the track of the upper low as it moves onshore so confidence remains low with precipitation placement Wednesday through Thursday. I continued to be conservative, keeping chance or slight chance pops across the southern Great Basin during this time period. Meanwhile, snow will likely persist over the Sierra and snow levels are forecast to rise to pretty high levels keeping heavy snow above elevations of any serious impact. The more impressive snow amounts will be on the west slopes of the Sierra but during the Tuesday night through Thursday time frame, the highest elevations of the east slopes, above 10000 feet, could see a couple feet of snow or even more near the crest. We should see a bit of a break in the action under brief ridging Friday before a very moist southwest flow starts to push in late Saturday. This moist flow, also known as an atmospheric river, will likely persist through Sunday and Monday leading to the potential for additional significant snow in the Sierra and possibly some decent rain across other portions of the forecast area. Confidence remains on the low side regarding the placement of the best precipitation chances but a good portion of the CWA should have at least a chance of precipitation Sunday into Monday. However, the latest model runs are hinting that southern Mohave and southeast San Bernardino Counties may not get much rain at all with this potential event. By the way, forecast temperature difference between the GFS and ECMWF MOS guidance are not nearly as great as what we saw the previous couple of model runs with the ECMWF warmer than before. This helps lend some confidence to higher snow levels. Overall we are forecasting temperatures not significantly different from normal for this time of year. .AVIATION...For McCarran...Gusty southwest winds will begin diminishing this evening, then follow typical diurnal trends by tomorrow morning with speeds less than 10 kts expected. Additional batches of mid to high-level clouds are expected through tomorrow, though no operationally significant ceilings are expected. Mountain wave activity in the lee of the Spring Mountains will create the potential for turbulence through this evening. For the rest of southern Nevada...northwest Arizona...and southeast California...Strong mountain wave activity in the lee of the Sierra Nevada will continue to contribute to turbulence and gusty winds in the Owens Valley. For the rest of the region, gusty south to southwest winds will being subsiding this evening with much lighter winds expected tomorrow. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather according to standard operating procedures. && Update...Morgan Discussion...Harrison Aviation...Steele For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: http://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
815 PM PST MON JAN 2 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0417 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 7 N OLANCHA 36.38N 118.02W
01/02/2017 INYO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
THREE BIG RIGS WERE BLOWN OVER IN THE OWENS
VALLEY ON HIGHWAY 395 NORTH OF OLANCA NEAR
ASH CREEK ROAD BETWEEN 1617 PST AND 1629
PST. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. GUSTS OF
62-75 MPH WERE RECORDED AT OAK CREEK RAWS
NEAR INDEPENDENCE FROM 1442 PST TO 1642 PST.
1042 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 5 NW INDEPENDENCE 36.84N 118.27W
01/01/2017 M64 MPH INYO CA MESONET
GUSTS OF 58-64 MPH WERE RECORDED AT OAK
CREEK RAWS FROM 2142 PST TO 2342 PST.
&&
NWS LAS VEGAS NV
IRIS SYSTEMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Two people died in Las Vegas of cold related causes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Las Vegas Valley | 2017-01-03 | 62 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
| Cold/Wind Chill, Las Vegas Valley | 2017-01-06 | 43 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, January 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: 674302.