A cold upper level low helped fuel a mix of showers and virga over the Mojave Desert. One virga shaft produced a microburst which caused minor damage.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
A cold upper level low helped fuel a mix of showers and virga over the Mojave Desert. One virga shaft produced a microburst which caused minor damage.
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 23, 2:00 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 200 PM PDT Tue Mar 23 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Low pressure will exit the region overnight leaving a dry northwest flow in place through mid week with occasional breezy to windy conditions. Another system will move in from the north later in the week bringing another round of wind and precipitation chances. Temperatures look to remain a few degrees below normal at least through the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Thursday. Weak instability behind an exiting low has helped produce scattered showers from southern Lincoln, Clark, and eastern San Bernardino Counties. Rainfall amounts have generally been light as these individual cells are moving fairly quickly to the south. With some additional heating this afternoon we will start to see a few more thunderstorms pop across the region as Li's are generally around 0/- 2 with some limited CAPE. Other than some brief moderate rain, these cells could produce gusty winds to 30 mph along with some small hail or graupel as 500mb temps are currently around -27C, but strong storms are not expected. Some snow showers are also possible at the higher elevations of Clark and Mohave Counties, but overall snow totals are not expected to amount to more than a inch or two. Showers will gradually end after sunset with clearing skies overnight. A strong pressure gradient across the northern and western area of the CWA has helped bring windy conditions to much of those areas. Winds have been gusting to over 40 mph for much of the day down the Owens Valley and generally between 30-40 mph elsewhere. Winds will gradually diminish across Inyo, Esmeralda, and Nye Counties this evening with the Wind Advisory for those areas expiring at 10 pm this evening. Wind Advisories will remain in place longer across San Bernardino as wind gusts over 40 mph are expected to remain in place overnight. Winds are expected to diminish over most areas Wednesday as the low pushes further east, but will remain in place down the Colorado River Valley through the day wind Wind Advisories in place until Wednesday afternoon. A quick break between systems Wednesday, but that will be followed by another fast moving trough on Thursday. This system will take a similar track to the current low and is expected to bring mainly wind and a few showers. Current analysis shows the strongest winds across San Bernardino and Mohave Counties and there is some potential wind advisories may be needed. As for precipitation, it looks like the main areas will be across Lincoln and Mohave Counties with only slight chances elsewhere. This will also help to reinforce the cooler air already in place that will keep temperatures below normal into the weekend. .LONG TERM...Friday through Tuesday. The extended is a little more unclear as we will at least see some aspect of ridging over the area. However, how strong the ridge is is in question as some of the extended models show some troughing trying to weaken the ridge and keeping it tempered. In either case, it does look like we will see dry conditions early next week along with temperatures at least a few degrees above normal. Depending how strong the ridge is, we could see high several degrees above normal. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Isolated to scattered showers near the terminal will persist through this evening before dissipating and moving east. Occasional low cloud ceilings around 5k- 6k feet possible at times as showers pass over or near the terminal. Northerly gusty winds will continue through at least 12z Wed before gradually subsiding. No impactful weather expected beyond the TAF period through the the end of the week. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Northerly gusty winds will persist through tonight and into tomorrow as low pressure system exits the area. Showers will persist through late this evening mainly east of a line from KTPH to KHII. Showers moving over or near terminals will likely drop ceilings temporarily. No impactful weather expected beyond the TAF period through the the end of the week. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION...Gorelow AVIATION...Lericos For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Two carports in Lake Havasu City were damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, March 2021
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: 946877.