A strong, cold low pressure system diving out of the Gulf of Alaska brought high winds to portions of the Mojave Desert, and isolated heavy snow to the southern Great Basin.
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.
A strong, cold low pressure system diving out of the Gulf of Alaska brought high winds to portions of the Mojave Desert, and isolated heavy snow to the southern Great Basin.
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 Mar 1, 8:18 PM PST, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 818 PM PST Thu Mar 1 2018 .SYNOPSIS...A powerful storm system will bring heavy snow to the southern Sierra and White Mountains through Saturday morning. Strong winds will be the primary concern tonight and Friday across the remainder of the southern Great Basin and Mojave Desert. After this system exits Sunday, the beginning of next week looks much quieter weather-wise. && .UPDATE...Made some changes to the forecast this evening to account for the significant precipitation shadowing going on downstream of the Sierra with this event and to tweak the wind forecast for Friday. As of 8 PM, all precipitation has been intercepted by the Sierra with dry conditions persisting across the Owens Valley and White Mountains. As a result I've downgraded the Winter Storm Warning for the White Mountains to a Winter Weather Advisory ending at 10 AM Friday. The best chances for precipitation there will exist from about 9 PM tonight through sunrise as the main moisture stream crosses the area. The other change was to increase winds across central Nevada and the high terrain of the surrounding region Friday. This brought wind gusts more in line with the High Wind Warning already in effect. I also added the Yucca Valley/Twentynine Palms area to the Wind Advisory as gusty southwest winds will likely develop during the day. Otherwise the forecast is on track and the Winter Storm Warning for the Sierra of Inyo County remains in place. The latest SNOTEL observations from that area report between 7 and 11 inches of new snow since 10 AM this morning, most of which has fallen in the last 4-5 hours. We will continue to monitor an make updates as needed. -Wolcott- && .PREV DISCUSSION... 209 PM PST Thu Mar 1 2018 .DISCUSSION...Tonight through Wednesday Continue to watch as a strong upper level low swings ashore the west coast. So far, precipitation has been slow to develop east of the Sierra range. Moisture has yet to make it over the mountains and will take a while to do so. With moisture returns being on the slower side combined with models backing off on the progression of precipitation east and southward, decided to tapered back precipitation chances outside of Inyo county through Friday. This didnt effect snow amounts in the mountains and winter storm warning areas as moisture will be faster to get into those areas as compared to the rest of the forecast area. No changes made to the headlines for the Sierra and White Mountains. The heaviest snow should be this afternoon through Friday morning, with not much change to the total snowfall through the event. Winds have been slow to develop this afternoon. Some gusts to around 40mph have been reported in Nye County through this early afternoon, but elsewhere mixing has not been as efficient. Decreased winds slightly through the overnight period. For Friday, hires models seem to be in two camps with some on the higher side and some not as robust. Given the strength of the 850-700mb winds, favored the strong solutions which was close to our current forecast for Friday wind gusts...however will need to watch how things develop as we did not gust as strong as anticipated today. On Saturday, the main system moves through with another wave of energy and temperatures dropping aloft. Increased cloud cover slightly based on this set up. Winds should be on a downward trend and while some gusty winds are possible, dont think headlines need to be adjust for stronger winds on Saturday at this time. Precipitation chances will make another south and eastward surge with this main upper level low, though backed of chances in far southern NV, southern, and southwest AZ as air will be rather dry and hard to saturate. Showers should linger through Saturday night and early Sunday before quickly ending from west to east Sunday afternoon. After that, a ridge should build into the area and bring quieter and warmer weather. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...A strong Pacific storm swinging into the western states the next few days will produce prolonged gusty south to southwest winds for the terminal area. Gusts from the southwest of at least 30-35 knots can be expected Friday from late morning through the early evening hours. Few to scattered clouds with bases 6-8 Kft can also be expected Friday. Expect all the hazards associated with strong winds, including low level wind shear and clear air turbulence. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...A strong Pacific storm swinging into the western states will produce widespread strong southwest winds across the region tonight and Friday. Precipitation in the southern Sierra will likely spill over the crest and produce periods of rain and ceilings of 5-6 Kft in the Owens Valley tonight followed by partial clearing Friday. Ceilings for all other terminals will likely remain above 10 kft with snow chances limited to the Great Basin. Widespread wind gusts of 35-45 kts can be expected Friday, with localized areas of 50 kt or greater winds across Nye, western Lincoln and the Spring Mountains. Expect all the hazards associated with strong winds, including low level wind shear and clear air turbulence.&& .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION...Wolf AVIATION...Adair 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
830 PM PST THU MAR 1 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM HEAVY SNOW 1 NNE SOUTH LAKE 37.18N 118.56W
03/01/2018 M11.0 INCH INYO CA MESONET
SOUTH LAKE (SLK) SNOTEL. ACCUMULATION SINCE
10 AM.
0800 PM HEAVY SNOW 1 SSE SOUTH LAKE 37.16N 118.56W
03/01/2018 M10.0 INCH INYO CA MESONET
SAWMILL (SWM) SNOTEL. ACCUMULATION SINCE 10
AM.
0800 PM SNOW 9 WNW ROUND VALLEY 37.46N 118.74W
03/01/2018 M7.0 INCH INYO CA MESONET
ROCK CREEK LAKES (RCK) SNOTEL. ACCUMULATION
SINCE 10 AM.
0800 PM HEAVY SNOW 6 ESE SOUTH LAKE 37.13N 118.48W
03/01/2018 M9.0 INCH INYO CA MESONET
BIG PINE CREEK (BGP) SNOTEL. ACCUMULATION
SINCE 10 AM.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 1 strong wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The peak gust occurred at the Mercury-Desert Rock (KDRA) ASOS.
The peak gust occurred 40 miles E of Beatty.
Strong winds blew down two large tents and six smaller tents at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The time and wind speed are estimated from nearby obs.
Measured 7.1 inches of snow in Goldfield.
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, March 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: 739072, 739073, 741546, 739074.