Yet another strong Pacific low pressure system brought high winds to the Mojave Desert.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
Yet another strong Pacific low pressure system brought high winds 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 Apr 16, 8:15 AM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 915 AM PDT Mon Apr 16 2018 .SYNOPSIS...Very strong winds will affect the region today as a potent Spring storm system moves through the region. Wind Advisories and High Wind Warnings are in effect. Chances for rain and snow today and tonight will remain north of Las Vegas. Temperatures will fall back down below normal, especially west of Las Vegas. The entire southern Great Basin and Mojave Desert will be much cooler Tuesday. After a quiet and warmer day Wednesday, winds will increase along with a chance of showers Thursday with next storm system. && .UPDATE...As of 9AM this morning, satellite is showing the shield of mid/high clouds just south of I-15 slowly shifting to the southeast. Updated sky grids to reflect the slower southeast trend in cloud cover. The potent trough will continue to dig into the southern Great Basin and California through today, increasing southwest winds ahead of it and bringing slight chances of precip across northern portions of the CWA. The latest MOS guidance is little stronger than hi- res models with wind speeds, especially for areas expecting high winds this afternoon. As such, increased winds across portions of the region expecting to see peak wind gusts this afternoon. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued at 315 AM PDT Mon Apr 16 2018/ .SHORT TERM...through Tuesday night. Shield of mid/high clouds preceding potent trough off the northern California coast covering areas south and east of Interstate 15 this morning. The fetch of lower level moisture off the Pacific was moving into the Sierra Nevada producing lgt-mod snow showers from Mammoth Lake north to the Tahoe Basin. As we have been advertising, concern from the passage of this trough will be very strong winds later today/this evening. Based on hi-res models and MOS guidance strongest period of winds will occur between 11 am and 8 pm this evening. Variety of High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories remain posted through late tonight. Cold frontal passage will occur at Bishop and Tonopah late this afternoon. Frontal band will slide southeast reaching Las Vegas between midnight and 3 am Tuesday, and finally Kingman about 8 am Tuesday. Post-frontal northwest winds will persist through the first half of Tuesday before beginning to decrease during the afternoon. The southern Sierra Nevada will continue to intercept much of the moisture today with new snow accumulation of 3-6 inches possible above 8500 feet, and a Trace-2 inches between 6000-8500 feet. Light rain and snow showers will breakout along the cold front across Esmeralda/central Nye County this evening, eventually reaching Lincoln County late this evening and overnight. Higher terrain of northern Lincoln may see a few inch of snow overnight. Kept a slight chance in overnight as far south as the Spring Mountains. Tuesday. Dry, but much cooler across the entire area. .LONG TERM...Wednesday to Sunday. The next system will churn down the west coast and pivot inland Wednesday then close itself up over Nevada on Thursday. Sensible weather response will be strong winds and increased precip chances. Medium-range guidance has remained in good agreement with the synoptic evolution. The main wind impact from this system will be north winds on the backside on Thursday. Low-level forecast winds between 35-45 kts across the southern Great Basin will aid in gusty conditions across Esmeralda, Nye, and Inyo Counties. Large spread still exists in north winds speeds between MAV and EC, mainly for areas north of Interstate 15. Further south, breezy to locally strong north winds will develop. With a warming cold pool, thermal gradients aloft should weaken and decrease winds as the move south. Overall, have taken the conservative approach to winds, with the forecast favoring ECMWF solution. In addition to wind, precip chances will increase along the southern Sierra early early Thurs and spread eastward across the northern zones Thursday. Precip on the backside of low - as it occludes - has trended further south compared to previous runs, with 20 percent PoPs being spread into the Las Vegas valley. Although precip is expected to be light, will monitor these trends over the next forecast cycles. There does appear to be slight destabilization across Lincoln County Thursday afternoon, with CAPE values around 200 J/kg. This may support a few updrafts capable of a few claps of thunder, but have not included any thunder at this time. Closed low will progress east on Friday with precip chances tapering from west to east as well. Northerly breezes will likely linger through Friday across the region. By the weekend, ridging nudges inland bringing a period of fair weather to area. Temperatures will be around normal Wednesday, decrease Thursday under height falls, then increase 3-6 degrees each day through Sunday under the influence of an upper ridge. && .FIRE WEATHER...Red Flag Warning remains in effect. Critical fire weather conditions in the form of wind gusts greater than 35 mph and relative humidity values less than 15 percent will occur across northwest Arizona and the lower Colorado River Valley today. Due to the dry Fall and Winter Seasons, critical fuels are primarily across southern half of Mohave County. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...South to southwest winds are likely to persist through the morning. Stronger winds will develop this afternoon with gusts to 40 kts possible. Mechanical turbulence blo 18 kft at least through this evening. Shield of mid/hi clouds will be shifting southeast this morning leaving behind mostly clear skies. A cold front will push south through the area later tonight, between midnight and 3 am Tuesday turning winds to the northwest. FEW-SCT080-100 will accompany the front. As winds decrease Tuesday afternoon the direction will shift more from the northeast. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Widespread SW winds gusting 35-45 KTS expected this afternoon with mechanical turbulence blo 18 kft downwind of mountains at least through this evening. A cold front will push south across the region tonight/early Tuesday morning. North winds will then be favored through Tuesday. Chances of snow showers/mountain tops obscured along the southern Sierra today. The chance of light showers spread east across south central Nevada tonight. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && UPDATE...Kryston SHORT TERM/AVIATION/FIRE WEATHER...Pierce LONG TERM...Boothe 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 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The peak gust occurred 40 miles E of Beatty.
The peak gust occurred at Indian Springs (KINS).
The peak gust occurred 3 miles NE of Mount Charleston.
Strong winds blew down a tree into power lines on the east side of Las Vegas.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2018
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: 740006, 740008, 740009, 740010.