An unusually deep late season trough brought unusually strong winds and cool temperatures to the Mojave Desert.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
An unusually deep late season trough brought unusually strong winds and cool temperatures to the Mojave Desert.
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 Jun 11, 8:26 AM PST, 4 hours 53 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 926 AM PDT Sun Jun 11 2017 .SYNOPSIS...An unseasonably deep low pressure system will track across the Great Basin today and will produce very windy conditions. There will be a slight chance of showers in central Nevada and along the eastern Sierra, elsewhere conditions will remain dry. The system will usher in much cooler temperatures for Monday. However, temperatures will warm quickly back to normal by the middle of next week with highs well above normal next weekend. && .UPDATE...Unseasonably deep trough for mid June initialized over northern California this morning. Water vapor imagery shows dry slot punching in across Inyo and Esmeralda County. By late afternoon, strongest belt of H700 winds of around 50 kts progged to develop across Inyo, Nye, Wrn Clark and Lincoln Counties. This band will slide east and be across northwest Arizona/southwest Utah by early Monday morning. Using BUFKIT to analyze the Las Vegas forecast soundings. Data shows winds steadily increasing throughout the day with potential window of strongest winds occurring between 6 pm and midnight this evening. I'm comfortable with our suite of products and no update planned at this time. && .PREV DISCUSSION...321 AM PDT Sun Jun 11 2017 .SHORT TERM...today through Tuesday night. So far the forecast has been on course, still expecting very windy conditions to spread across the Great Basin and Mojave Desert this afternoon/evening. This of course in response to an unseasonably cold upper low that will track across northern Nevada today. Hires models still consistent on strength and timing of peak winds - late afternoon and evening with gusts 50-60 MPH in the lower deserts and 60-70 MPH in higher elevation areas. Have kept the High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories in place for today. One mentionable location is the Owens Valley, where downslope winds of 58+ MPH may be possible. HiRes NAM solution calls for High Wind Warning downslope winds as a ridgetop inversion sets up allowing mountain wave momentum to mix downward, whereas the GFS maintains more unstable conditions along the ridge and provides a weaker downslope winds scenario. With the lack of consistency among models, have left only a Wind Advisory, perhaps worth another look during the 12z runs. Winds begin to taper off early Monday, with only a few breezy areas still under the influence of the trough. This is a fairly dry system, with most of the southern Great Basin remaining dry. However, with decent lift ahead of the cold front and some marginal mid-level mixing ratios, a slight chance of shower development and/or thunderstorm will be possible in the northern zones and along the Sierra this afternoon through early Monday. As the area cools snow levels will drop to around 6000' and some precipitation fall as light snow showers along the Sierra crest. Monday, a late season cool down will spread across the Great Basin and bring afternoon temperatures down 10-15 degrees below normal, with potential to tie the minimum high temperature of 79 degrees set in 2010. Beyond Monday, temperatures begin to warm up through Tuesday and will trend upwards through the week. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Saturday. Forecasting dry conditions and a warming trend in the long term but the details are not a slam dunk at the end of the period. We start out with zonal flow and pretty much normal temperatures on Wednesday. Ridging starts to develop over the western U.S. Thursday with about 5 degrees of warming compared to Wednesday. Overall the models continue to strengthen the ridge a bit Friday and Saturday but shift it east a bit by Saturday. There is agreement that additional warming is likely but the ECMWF is less aggressive with that warming and I stuck close to those numbers for now. Either way, it still looks pretty hot for this coming weekend and we will need to monitor trends for a possible Excessive Heat Watch/Warning in some areas. An interesting thing to note is the orientation of the upper high center shifting closer to the four corners region Saturday and Sunday could possibly start bringing up some moisture from the south/southeast. This will need to be monitored for possibly introducing some thunderstorm chances with additional moisture also possibly keeping temperatures from getting as hot. Confidence in these possibilities is pretty low at this time however. && .FIRE WEATHER...Potent area of low pressure for mid-June will continue to produce gusty winds across southern Nevada and northwest Arizona through early Monday morning. The period of strongest winds looks to occur between 4 pm and Midnight today. Humidity values will fall to 5-10 percent Sunday in the lower deserts, while values will likely range between 10-15 percent in the higher elevation of south central Nevada and far northwest Arizona. Winds will subside some overnight but poor humidity recovery is expected across the lower deserts of southern Nevada and northwest Arizona. Winds taper off Monday and will pose a lesser threat for the area through the next week. By late next week, temperatures will be hot with many lower desert valley locations near or exceeding 110 degrees. && .HYDROLOGY...Creeks, streams and rivers along the eastern Sierra Slopes and Owens Valley of Inyo County are running at their highest levels this runoff season. Most of the creeks, streams and river flows have started trending down, this will continue through Monday, as the forecast calls for much cooler temperatures. However, warmer temperature are expected from mid-week on, under the influence of a building ridge, which will bring another round of increased snowmelt and thus runoff in creeks and streams that contribute to the Owens River. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...No significant cloud cover through tonight. Winds will likely favor a southerly direction this morning mainly 10-15 knots with gusts 20-25 knots at times. Southwest winds will increase by about noon with sustained speeds 25-30 knots and gusts 35-40 knots, persisting through the evening. Southwest winds will probably decrease later tonight to sustained 15-20 knots and gusts possibly around 25 knots. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...VFR conditions are expected through the period. Winds will increase throughout the morning, peaking during the afternoon and early evening at 20-30 knots and gust mainly 30-45 knots. Most areas will have southwest winds except in Esmeralda and northwest Nye County with somewhat lighter northwest winds are expected. Winds will decrease later tonight, primarily from the west or southwest. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && Update...Pierce SHORT TERM............Boothe LONG TERM/AVIATION....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.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds occurred at the Mercury-Desert Rock ASOS and 13 miles NW of Mercury.
This gust occurred 40 miles E of Beatty.
This gust occurred 1 mile WNW of Rachel.
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, June 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: 698078, 698080, 698081.