One man died in Las Vegas of cold related causes.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
One man 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 Dec 23, 8:22 PM PST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 822 PM PST Sun Dec 23 2018 .SYNOPSIS...One more day of mild and dry weather before big changes arrive in the form of colder, windier, and showery weather on Christmas day. Cool and unsettled conditions will persist most of the week as an additional trough develops and reinforces cold air into the Desert Southwest through next weekend. && .UPDATE...Increased cloud cover a bit over Lincoln and northern Mohave Counties for the next few hours and some thicker mid and high level clouds move through. Forecast is in good shape and no other changes will be made. && .PREV DISCUSSION...145 PM PST Sun Dec 23 2018 .SHORT TERM...through Christmas Day night. We have one more day of mild temperatures before a more wintry pattern develops over the region Christmas Day. Even colder temperatures are expected to settle over the Intermountain West late week and hang around through the weekend. Our Christmas Eve/Christmas Day storm has become more evident in water vapor imagery near 46N/157W. Trough will continue east the next 24 hours before upper pattern amplifies allowing deep trough to dig through California and Nevada Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day. Trough stays progressive and will be heading east through Arizona early Wednesday morning. Precipitation: Narrow IVT plume positioned near the base of the trough progged to reach northern California tomorrow before dissipating/eroding as it slides south toward the southern Sierra. Favorable orographics along the western slopes should produce heavier rain/snow amounts with lighter amounts spilling over the crest into Inyo County. Total snow values for any type of winter weather headline continue to look marginal. Current package shows around 4" at both Aspendell and Mt. Whitney Portal. As snow levels fall to 4-5 kft Christmas Day we are still calling for a dusting up to 3" of new snow in Inyo, Esmeralda, Nye, Lincoln County, as well as the Spring Mountains. As for rainfall in the valleys, still looks like much of the area will see less than a .10 of an inch, while there could be more fortunate areas seeing locally up to 0.25 of an inch. Winds: Hi-res models showing pre-frontal westerly winds increasing along the southern Sierra Crest and western Mojave Desert Monday evening. The winds spread east into Clark County early Christmas morning with locally gusty downslope winds 30-40 mph possible in Red Rock Canyon and far western Las Vegas Valley. Models have stayed consistent in placement of strongest post-frontal northerly wind Christmas Day across our western counties, Esmeralda, Inyo, Nye and western San Bernardino. The area of northerly winds shift east encompassing Lincoln, Clark and Mohave Counties Tuesday night into Wednesday. We still have plenty of time before any type of headline is needed. Temperatures: Mild temperatures through Monday. Since temperatures have been so much above normal the past week our forecast highs for Christmas Day are very close to normal. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Saturday. The Christmas upper low will be exiting the to the east Wednesday leaving breezy to locally windy north winds in its wake, especially down the Colorado River valley. Models are holding steady this morning on another upper low digging southward on Thursday which will help carve out a broad, cold trough across the western states on Friday. As the eastern Pacific ridge breaks down, it will briefly sever the low from the westerlies and allow it to slowly sag south over the weekend. The trajectory of the upper low and mean ensemble trough support dry conditions as the system moves through. However, the operational GFS has trended further west and keeps the upper low over the Great Basin as it maneuvers south; this would give us a better shot of instability showers under the upper low and keep cloud cover a bit longer. I've kept the forecast dry for now. Breezy to locally strong winds are likely Thursday with the surface cold front as it pushes through with breezy winds lingering thereafter. A significant drop in temperatures is likely with this system as northeasterly flow allows cold Canadian air filters into the Southwest. Overnight lows on Friday and Saturday could be the coldest observed this year. How low the temperatures get will depend on how much wind and cloud cover is present during the overnight periods. Temperature readings are expected to dip 5-8 degrees below normal next weekend. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Winds will remain light and follow near to diurnal trends. Speeds should remain at 8 knots or less with periods of SCT-BKN mid and high cloud cover. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Light and mostly diurnal winds with periods of SCT-BKN mid and high cloud cover expected today. Near KIFP, more northerly winds are expected with gusts to 20 knots possible. Lighter winds are expected down the Colorado River on Monday. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && UPDATE...Czyzyk SHORT TERM...Pierce AVIATION...Gorelow 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.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
One man 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 | 2018-12-24 | 61 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
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, December 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: 794523.