Rain on December 6th followed by clearing skies and colder temperatures led to patchy dense fog around the Mojave Desert.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Rain on December 6th followed by clearing skies and colder temperatures led to patchy dense fog around 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 Dec 8, 2:29 AM PST, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 229 AM PST Sat Dec 8 2018 .SYNOPSIS... Some lingering low clouds and areas of fog early this morning but otherwise, high pressure will result in dry conditions and slightly warmer temperatures. Skies will be mostly clear and winds light other than some northerly breezes near Laughlin and Bullhead City. Mild conditions will continue through Sunday and into Monday with mid and high clouds spreading over the area. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Monday. A Dense Fog Advisory was issued for the Owens Valley overnight due to a CHP report of dense fog near Lone Pine and satellite imagery showing a low stratus deck and possible fog formation from Bishop south to near Olancha. The weather pattern for the weekend transitions to a ridge of high pressure over the Great Basin and Mojave Desert resulting in dry conditions and daytime temperatures a few degrees above normal. Most areas will see mostly clear skies today through Saturday before high clouds move over the area ahead of an approaching trough for early next week. Gusty north winds are forecast along portions of the Colorado River Valley on Sunday but otherwise winds are expected to be light today and Sunday. On Monday, the ridge shifts east of the area as an elongated trough moves to the west coast. Expect plenty of cloud cover around Monday but it should continue to be mild under light wind conditions. .LONG TERM...Monday night through Friday. Main concern is still the storm system rolling into the Pacific Northwest on Monday. Confidence is even lower today than previous days, as ensemble spread is worsening. The biggest point of contention seems to be whether the trough remains in one piece and swings through the Intermountain West and/or northern Great Basin, or splits with the northern piece following one of the aforementioned tracks and the southern piece digging down toward Los Angeles and/or the northern Gulf of California. With such a spread of possible solutions, have little confidence in whether or where any showers might occur Tuesday. There is actually slightly better ensemble agreement on a second shortwave trough hot on the heels of the first storm. The models show this wave amplifying just to our east on Wednesday, dragging a cold front through our area and bringing stiff north winds down the Colorado River Valley on Thursday. Temperatures should be a bit above normal Tuesday, then come down Wednesday through Friday in the wake of this front. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...High pressure over the area today will result in light winds generally following diurnal trends and mostly clear skies. No significant weather is expected through the weekend. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Areas of low clouds with bases 3-5 kft MSL will gradually decrease across southern Nevada and surrounding areas early morning. Areas near and south of KBIH could see dense fog at times through 8 am otherwise, increasingly dry air will spread over the region today resulting in mostly clear skies and light winds. KIFP will see north winds of 15-20 knots today and possibly gusty on Sunday. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...Salmen LONG TERM....Morgan 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.
2 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of spotters in and near Pahrump reported visibility of less than an eighth of a mile.
Dense fog reduced visibility to less than an eighth of a mile on I-15 between Jean and Sloan.
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: 790841, 790842.