The Desert Southwest saw its first strong low pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska this season, which brought very strong winds to much of the region.
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.
The Desert Southwest saw its first strong low pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska this season, which brought very strong winds to much of the region.
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 Oct 11, 10:46 AM MST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 944AM PDT Mon Oct 11 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Powerful storm system will drop into the Great Basin today and spread high winds across much of the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. Widespread areas of blowing dust are also likely. The first accumulations of mountain snow are expected in Lincoln county as well as the Spring Mountains today and tonight. Much cooler air will follow for Tuesday and Wednesday before temperatures gradually moderate heading into the weekend. && .TAF UPDATE... .AVIATION...For McCarran...An AWW remains in effect from 1PM to 7PM tonight for the LAS terminal. TAF forecast in general remains on track through tonight. Southwest winds across the valley have already started gusting to around 25KT this morning. Expecting a few hours of gusts 25KT-30KT before southwest increase again around 20Z-21Z, at which point gusts over 40KT are likely. High confidence in the timing of the cold front and wind direction switch to the northwest being around 00Z-01Z this evening. The strongest winds of the event should be along and just behind the cold front when gusts over 50KT are possible. Winds will remain northwest and slowly taper off through the night. Main change with the 18Z TAF for LAS is the addition of TEMPO/PROB30 groups for showers and lower ceilings. Scattered showers are expected this evening and early tonight, with the best chance for rain at the terminals being about 01Z-06Z. SCT-BKN CIGs to 8000ft are likely overnight, with some potential for CIGs down to 5000ft with any showers that move overhead. Blowing dust may also reduce visibility at times, however wont be able to add reduced visibility to the TAFs until blowing dust actually develops and can be tracked. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...No major changes were made to the area TAFs for the 18Z package. Gusty north winds have already developed at BIH where the cold front has just passed through. Added a TEMPO group at BIH for showers and CIGs to 7000ft this afternoon per radar trends and the latest short term models. As the cold front pushes southeast, expect winds to switch north to northwest with widespread gusts 35-45KT. Ahead of the front, increasing southwest to west winds are likely with gusts generally 30-40KT expected. DAG will see the strongest winds this afternoon, with westerly gusts likely gusting to 50KT or more between 20Z-02Z this afternoon. Stronger winds over 40KT will not make it to EED and IFP until after 00Z. Scattered precipitation is expected with this system, mainly in Inyo County through southern Nevada into northwest Arizona through tonight. CIGs 6000-8000ft are expected with the showery activity. Snow is possible above 7000ft, with mountain obscuration possible this evening and overnight. Expect areas of blowing dust which may reduce visibilities at times. && .UPDATE...No update needed this morning. Potent upper low digging into northwest Nevada this morning ushering in the first taste of Winter with a mix of rain/snow occurring in the valleys from Reno east to Fallon and Hawthorne. For the southern Great Basin/Mojave Desert wind already on the increase and gusting in excess of 45 mph along the eastern Sierra slopes of Inyo County and northwest San Bernardino County. Those winds will only strengthen throughout the day into the evening as cold front sweeps southeast across southern Nevada and Inyo County. Cold front looks to reach Las Vegas between 5 and 6 pm this afternoon. Our messaging has been on point highlighting that this will be a significant wind event. Much colder air filtering in behind the cold front will allow for a mix of rain/snow tonight at elevations down to about 3000-3500 in southern Nevada and northwest Arizona. First significant accumulations of several inches possible for Lincoln County, Spring Mtns. and Sheep Range above 5000 feet. && .SHORT TERM...through Tuesday night. It's the calm before the storm at the moment but changes are afoot with this mornings satellite imagery depicting a vigorous shortwave beginning to dig south into Northern California en route to the central Great Basin later today. This inside slider will be the impetus to widespread and potentially high impact weather across the region today and tonight. As pressure gradients tighten in the morning hours, winds will be ramping up in two primary areas. The first will be across the prefrontal southwesterly wind belt that will stretch from the Western Mojave Desert near Barstow eastward into far southern Nevada and Northwest Arizona. The second will be along and behind the southward advancing cold front. Widespread wind gusts of 40-60 mph are expected in these areas, with significant blowing dust and sand likely as well. Strongest winds gusts are expected in the Western Mojave Desert, Inyo County, and the US-95 corridor between Las Vegas and Tonopah, where widespread 55-60 mph gusts are expected with localized gusts of 60 to 70 mph possible. If you haven't already, secure any loose or unsecured outdoor decor or furniture ahead of the incoming wind storm. In addition to the winds, light precipitation is expected to develop along the cold front this evening and become more organized overnight across Lincoln and northern Mohave Counties, as well in the Spring Mountains. With heights falling 20-25dm between now and tonight, snow levels will be crashing quickly with light snow accumulations of 1-4 inches possible in the above mentioned areas by Tuesday morning. The winter weather advisory for these areas looks good. Colder air will invade the region Tuesday with high temperatures topping out 15 to 25 degrees below normal Tuesday afternoon. The first freezes of the season may also end the growing season in most of Lincoln and northern Mohave counties. The forecast low of 51 on Tuesday morning in Las VEgas would be the coldest since April 1st of this year, with even cooler morning lows to follow later in the week. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Monday. Another reinforcing shortwave trough will drag into the intermountain region on Wednesday, keeping heights below normal under a broad western conus trough pattern. This will keep temperatures very fall like with afternoon high temperatures remaining 12-18 degrees below average for mid-October. Morning lows Wednesday and Thursday will remain quite cool, with this spell of cold temperatures likely the coolest mornings since late March/early April for most of the region. Heights will begin to build late in the week as high pressure ramps up along the West Coast Thursday and Friday. This will induce a slow climb back closer to normal temperatures by the weekend, though highs will tend to top out on the cooler side of average until at least Sunday. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Light winds through the rest of the night with aviation impacts expected to ramp up quickly later this morning. Gusty southwest winds are expected after 15Z with gusts over 25KT likely before increasing this afternoon to around 35KT. A cold front is expected to pass through the air terminal around 00Z this afternoon, with winds quickly switching to the northwest. Strong winds are likely behind the front with gusts over 40KT likely and the potential for gusts up to 50KT or higher. Confidence is high enough in gusts reaching or exceeding the AWW threshold of 48KT gusts or higher with the frontal passage that an AWW will be issued with the 12z TAF package. Blowing dust associated with the strongest period of winds may reduce visibilities at times. Expect winds to remain out of the northwest tonight and slowly diminish through Tuesday morning. Another potential impact to operations with this system will be an increase in shower chances and associated lower ceilings. The best chance for rain is forecast in the 00Z-06Z Tuesday time period, although showers could linger into Tuesday morning. CIGs around 6k feet will be possible with any showers that move over the terminal, but CIGs otherwise are expected to be between 8-10k feet late this afternoon and overnight. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Light diurnal winds are expected through the remainder of the night but significant changes are expected area-wide later this morning as a strong low pressure system moves through the region. Strong winds, scattered precipitation, and lower CIGs are all possible. West to southwest winds are expected ahead of a cold front that will sweep north to south through the area today, switching winds to the northwest behind the front. Pre-frontal southwest gusts will generally be in the 25-35KT range with the post- frontal northwest gust potential up to 50KT in some locations. BIH could possibly see a brief period of strong west winds as the front approaches but the gusty north winds behind the front will be of much longer duration beginning by 18Z this morning. Expect areas of blowing dust which may reduce visibilities at times. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Widespread high winds are expected today along with mountain snow. Reports of high wind gusts, wind damage, blowing dust resulting in visibility reduction, or accumulating snowfall are encouraged. && TAF UPDATE...Nickerson UPDATE...Pierce DISCUSSION...Outler AVIATION...Salmen For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1134 AM PDT MON OCT 11 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1025 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG 12 SSE HAIWEE 35.97N 117.92W
10/11/2021 INYO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
TRACTOR TRAILER OVERTURNED BY WINDS ON US
395 NEAR CINDER RD.
&&
BEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1154 AM PDT MON OCT 11 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1133 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 SSE OLANCHA 36.26N 118.00W
10/11/2021 INYO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
TRACTOR TRAILER OVERTURNED BY WINDS ON US
395 NEAR WALKER CREEK RD.
&&
BEPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
107 PM PDT MON OCT 11 2021
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1253 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 7 SSE HAIWEE 36.05N 117.94W
10/11/2021 INYO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
TRACTOR TRAILER OVERTURNED BY WINDS ON GILL
STATION COSO RD NEAR US 395.
&&
BEP1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The peak sustained wind was measured in Temple Bar. In Bullhead City, one large tree was uprooted and another was split.
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, October 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: 989155.