A weak shortwave trough plus hot surface temperatures fueled scattered thunderstorms which produced high winds over Nye County.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
A weak shortwave trough plus hot surface temperatures fueled scattered thunderstorms which produced high winds over Nye County.
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 Jun 25, 1:27 PM PST, 4 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 227 PM PDT Thu Jun 25 2020 .SYNOPSIS...Continued afternoon thunderstorm activity with brief heavy rain and gusty outflow winds possible once again tomorrow afternoon as upper-level low pressure system moves over head. Another more potent system will impact the region with strong winds over the weekend followed by cooler temperatures next week. && .SHORT TERM...Through Saturday. Concerns for the short term focus on afternoon thunderstorm chances through Friday. An upper-level low traversing the region through Friday over top modest pacific moisture, resulting in afternoon instability with ample forcing for ascent producing thunderstorms, mainly near the upper-level low center and elongated trough axis extending from central Nevada to the Sierra Nevada. This trough will continue sinking southeast tomorrow, with the center coming nearly over Las Vegas tomorrow evening. With the trough axis shearing out a bit, lift will be a little less, lapse rates are already quite steep across southern Nevada, and forecast minor moisture increases with even steeper lapse rates will support afternoon CAPE values of 500-1500 J/kg. Mountains should have no problem initiating activity, with storms following the low center and moving off the mountains in the evening. Large inverted-v soundings indicate the primary threat will be wind, with outflow gusts of 40-50 MPH possible. Saturday should be fairly quite. Lingering moisture may produce a few buildups over the higher terrain, but not much upper-level support for any storms that do form to de-anchor. .LONG TERM...Sunday through Thursday. Upper-level trough number 2 for the forecast period impacts the area for the latter half of the weekend into next week. A rather potent trough, especially by late-June standards, will swing across the Intermountain West Sunday through Thursday, with the base of the trough swinging across the area. This will result in a belt of strong south to southwesterly winds on Sunday with a sharp drop in temperatures to start next week. Much of next week will be on the cool side with quiet weather as flow transitions from northwest behind the departing trough to southwest as a ridge of high pressure builds in near the four corners with a weak trough off the west coast. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Gusty winds this afternoon will vary between easterly and southeasterly through around 00z. Gusts will be prevalent during that time with sustained speeds around 10-12 knots gusting around 20 knots. After 00z, winds will become more southerly between 180-220 with continued gusty winds through around sundown. The question after 06z tonight is if an outflow from storms over central NV will make it all the way down into the Las Vegas valley which would shift winds to the northwest and pick speeds back up to 10-15 knots until around 10z. Confidence is building in this scenario. Tomorrow, afternoon showers and storms in and around the valley will be possible primarily between 21z-01z with strong, outflow winds being a primary concern. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Showers and storms will continue to develop across Inyo County and the southern Great Basin with strong winds being the primary concern. Other areas will remain dry with breezy, southerly winds through this evening. An outflow boundary will push southward into southern NV which will shift winds to the north/northwest before it washes out around the I-15 corridor. Winds behind the boundary could come up to speeds of 20 knots gusting 30 knots. Prevailing southerly winds will be present again on Friday. However, there will be chances for showers and thunderstorms across all of southern NV and southeast Cali where gusty winds continue to be a concern. && .FIRE WEATHER...Elevated to critical fire weather concerns over the next few days across the region. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms over the southern Great Basin will expand further south Friday afternoon. Dry lightning may be a concern, but the bigger concern will be gusty outflow winds. Another round of more widespread winds and low humidity will create critical concerns for Sunday, lingering into Monday for Northwest Arizona. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION/FIRE...Steele AVIATION..........Guillet For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 210 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:59 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds from decaying thunderstorms to the north swept south across Nye County. Visibility was reduced to less than a quarter mile in dust storm conditions 10 miles WSW of Amargosa Valley, where tree limbs blew down and power was knocked out.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, June 2020
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: 892412, 892413.