Two hikers died of heat related causes in Death Valley National Park.
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.
Two hikers died of heat related causes in Death Valley National Park.
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 Aug 18, 7:40 AM PST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 840 AM PDT Wed Aug 18 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Low pressure dropping into the Great Basin will bring a cooling trend to the region while also limiting monsoonal thunderstorm activity to Lincoln, Clark and Mohave counties through Thursday. Breezy conditions can be expected as well. Temperatures will remain slightly below average through the weekend with generally dry weather. && .UPDATE...Gusty conditions continue on Lake Mead and Mohave this morning, with wind speeds of 20-30 mph commonly reported on local observations and buoys with gusts to near 40 mph. A brief lull in the winds may be noted in more sheltered coves this morning before ramping up again later this afternoon. The ongoing lake wind advisory continues to look good through the evening. Meanwhile, expecting a few isolated to scattered thunderstorms again today, mainly across eastern Lincoln and northern Mohave counties where instability and forcing is greatest. However, of note this morning is a fairly sharp moisture gradient stretching from the Colorado River Valley into western Lincoln County. East of this line, dewpoints are in the upper 50s to mid 60s, while west of this line the dewpoints are more commonly in the 30s and 40s. Suspect an isolated storm or two may develop in the mid afternoon along or just east of this boundary, and may briefly become fairly strong given 20- 25 knots of deep layer shear and increasing vertical forcing from the incoming trough. Something to keep an eye on through the day. Overall, the forecast is in good shape and no major changes are planned. -Outler- && .SHORT TERM...through Thursday night. Early morning satellite loop showed shallow cumulus bubbling east of a line from Rachel to Moapa to Kelso to Lake Havasu City. Thunderstorms were in progress over Utah, and the 00Z soundings from KVEF and KSLC showed a striking contrast. A mid level subsidence inversion had produced a cap just below 400 mb at KVEF, while moister and cooler mid levels at KSLC meant the atmosphere was uncapped there, allowing storms to pop. High resolution models were still showing some chance of new development over Lincoln and Mohave counties by morning. As the day wears on, the shortwave trough seen over far northwest Nevada early this morning will sag closer, helping to break the cap through cold air advection and lifting, which will allow thunderstorms to develop over southern Nevada and northwest Arizona. The lift and shear should be sufficient to allow storms to persist through the night, but not sufficient to worry about more than isolated severe weather. As the low moves away to the east on Thursday, our area will be in a less favorable environment for storms, with chances limited to Lincoln and Mohave counties, and coverage probably significantly less than today. Winds on the lakes were still gusting as high as 40 mph early this morning, so the Lake Wind Advisory looks good. Temperatures will come down several degrees today and Thursday as the low moves in. .LONG TERM...Friday through next Tuesday. As the Great Basin trough lifts eastward Friday, another trough is likely to drop south in its wake for the weekend, keeping the West in a somewhat cool and breezy pattern. This will keep monsoonal moisture at bay and also maintain fairly moderate temperatures by August standards. Temperatures will gradually rebound closer to normal next week as low amplitude high pressure begins to rebuild across the Southwestern US. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Elevated south winds with directional variability between 180 and 200 will continue through the overnight hours. Speeds will generally range from 12-15 kts with gusts 20-25 kts. Through the morning, gusts will pick back up as wind direction becomes more southwesterly. Gusts will be quick to fall off after sunset. However, there is a chance of downslope winds from the Spring Mountains causing prevailing gusts 20-25kts from the west through midnight. Winds become light and variable through the early- morning hours of Thursday. No operationally significant cloud cover expected through the TAF period. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Breezy-to-gusty south-southwest winds will continue through the overnight hours before picking up once again through the morning with similar speeds as yesterday - between 25 and 35 kts. Gusts will fall off substantially after sunset with isolated gusts possible through midnight. No operationally significant cloud cover expected through the TAF period. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Morgan LONG TERM...Outler AVIATION...Varian 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 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Two hikers were found dead of heat related causes in Death Valley National Park. Their dates of death are estimated.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, Death Valley National Park | 2021-08-18 | 60 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Heat, Death Valley National Park | 2021-08-20 | 52 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 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: 981089.