Widespread light rain fell over much of southern Nevada due to an atmospheric river event. Strong winds surfaced where there were breaks in the rain, and there was one high wind report.
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.
Widespread light rain fell over much of southern Nevada due to an atmospheric river event. Strong winds surfaced where there were breaks in the rain, and there was one high wind report.
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 22, 2:00 AM PST, 9 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 300 AM PDT Thu Mar 22 2018 .SYNOPSIS...Widespread rain and high elevation snow is expected today as a moist Pacific weather system moves through. Drier conditions will move in tomorrow with near normal temperatures. By Saturday and Sunday widespread gusty conditions and a cooling trend can be expected, with cool temperatures lasting into early next week. && .SHORT TERM...through Friday night. Wet conditions continue early this morning mainly across the Sierra and Owens Valley, while a bit of a lull in the shower activity occurs further south and east. However, cooling cloud tops are indicated with the incoming moisture plume across SoCal, starting to spread into the western Deserts now. Additionally, some light reflectivity echoes have been increasing on radar across northern San Bern county, so I suspect precipitation will be on the increase through the morning hours as the moisture plume begins to shift east and more favorable jet dynamics work into the region. All in all, still on tap for a rather wet and showery day for most of the region, especially north of I-40. Unsurprisingly, desert valleys will be the hardest pressed to get significant precipitation, with expected totals across the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas areas in the one-tenth to one-quarter inch range. Higher amounts are likely in the mountains, with up to two inches possible in the Spring Mountains. The Owens valley will also wind up fairly substancial totals of 1-1.5 inches of rainfall when all is said and done. There will be some modest instability around this afternoon, particularly as the lead shortwave forcing this moisture plume eastward lifts into central Nevada. As such, I added Isolated thunderstorms to the forecast for much of Inyo County and the southern Great Basin this afternoon and evening. Winds aloft would also support fairly gusty winds across the area, bordering on wind advisory thresholds in some places, but given the abundance of cloud cover and potential precipitation drag, I opted against any additional wind headlines besides the Wind Advisory for Lincoln county. Some spotty wind gusts over 40 mph will be possible however in central Nye & Esmeralda counties this afternoon, as well as pockets of Mohave county. By late this evening, precipitation coverage will become more showery and focused across Northwest Arizona while gradually decreasing. Drier conditions are expected Friday with seasonable temperatures, though a stray shower or two will be possible across Lincoln county and northern Mohave counties thanks to some lingering moisture. .LONG TERM...Saturday through Thursday. Both the GFS/ECMWF have a shortwave pushing into northern California and across the Great Basin Saturday-Sunday. Models are in much better agreement on most of the details with this shortwave through the weekend. As the shortwave approaches the region SAT afternoon, potentially advisory level southwest winds (25-35 MPH) will move across much of the Mojave Desert and higher terrain. With limited moisture only have some slight chances of precip Sunday morning (mainly north of Clark County) along the leading edge of a surface cold front. The cold front should push through Sunday leaving behind cooler temperatures (potentially 5-10 degrees cooler than Saturday) and gusty north winds. Beyond Sunday the evolution of this shortwave remains unclear, but overall trends have been closing off the low just south and east of our area. This scenario would likely continue breezy north winds and continued CAA keeping temperatures cool through Tuesday before the low moves further east and ridging moves in behind it Wednesday-Thursday. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Light south to southwest winds will continue early this morning before increasing later this morning. Southwest winds have the potential of gusting up to 20-25 kts this afternoon. Though, confidence on those winds speeds is very low with good potential of shower activity around the region significant precipitation drag should keep the wind speeds much lower. Lower ceilings around 040-060 will arrive by 17-18Z this morning with the better chances of shower activity. Better ceilings should arrive later this afternoon between 22-01Z with decreasing shower activity. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Rain chances will increase throughout the morning and into the afternoon for most terminals as well as low ceilings and terrain obscuration. Rain chances will end and clouds will decrease from west to east later tonight into Friday morning. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. Rainfall and flooding reports are appreciated during periods of weather later this week. && SHORT TERM...Outler LONG TERM/Aviation...Kryston 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 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This gust occurred 5 miles WNW of Rachel.
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: 739076.