A strong low pressure system brought heavy snow to the eastern Sierra slopes.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system brought heavy snow to the eastern Sierra slopes.
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 Dec 13, 8:40 AM PST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 840 AM PST Mon Dec 13 2021 .SYNOPSIS...A moist Pacific storm system will impact the region today and Tuesday, with widespread rain and higher elevation snow expected, along with strong winds. Snow accumulations in the higher elevations will likely cause travel disruptions. Drier conditions briefly return Wednesday, with another, less impressive weather system late week. Seasonably cool conditions persisting into the weekend. && .UPDATE...Impressive 500mb trough with sub 515dm heights off the PacNW coast continues to develop southward this morning. Ahead of this feature, a couple of moisture plumes are evident on satellite imagery. The first is a weakening plume displaced well ahead of the main trough axis, while the second is in the process of organizing over NorCal and will become the primary band by later this evening. The Sierra has intercepted most of the precipitation through this morning, and will continue to do so through most of the daylight hours today. Periods of moderate snow are still anticipated in the Sierra around Aspendell, but spillover into the Owens Valley appears it will be limited until after dark. The trough axis will push into the region on Tuesday with widespread rain and snow still on track. Will be digging into the details further this afternoon, but the current expectations remain unchanged. The current forecast appears on track and no updates are necessary this morning. -Outler- && .SHORT TERM...through Tuesday night. Satellite loop showed very complex low pressure just off the British Columbia coast, with the first wave of moisture and resultant snow hitting the Sierra early this morning. Surface obs showed chilly and dry conditions for the vast majority of our CWA, with isolated gusty southerly winds ahead of the approaching storm system. Through today, the low will dig south, increasing the surface pressure gradients and in turn bringing gusty winds across Inyo County and west-southwest NV. Initially, much of the moisture will be intercepted by the Sierra, and in the absence of precip, the main impact will be winds gusting 45-50 mph across the lower elevations of Inyo County and southern Nye County. The Wind Advisory for these areas looks good. As the negatively tilted shortwave continues to dig into southeast CA and southern NV Tuesday, moisture will begin to spill over the Sierra crest early Tuesday morning. As this occurs, upper-level dynamics and lift will quickly enhance precipitation across southern NV and southeast CA. The southwesterly flow associated with this shortwave evolution will aid in additional moisture from a weak AR across our region. The air mass associated with the AR originates from warmer air, creating fluctuations in the snow levels throughout this weather event. Initially, snow levels will be around 4,500 to 5,500 feet, with lower snow levels across south-central NV. As the AR gets pulled into southern NV and northwest AZ, snow levels will increase to around 6,000-7,000 feet, limiting the heaviest snow amounts to elevations above these levels. As the surface cold front moves east through Tuesday, snow levels will quickly drop to around 4,500-4,000 feet. [MAIN IMPACTS] SNOW - Heavy snow will be possible along the Sierra, White Mtns, and mainly above 5,000 feet across south-central NV, including the Spring Mtns and Sheep Range. Snow totals: - Eastern Sierra: 1 to 2 feet. - South-central NV: 4 to 8 inches above 5000 feet; 7 to 12 inches above 6500 feet. - Spring Mtns & Sheep Range: 4 to 8 inches above 5000 feet; up to a foot or so above 7000 feet. WIND - Strongest winds will be likely in conjunction with heavy snow along the higher terrain, and ahead of/in the absence of rain in the lower elevations. Wind Speeds: - Gusts up to 55-60 mph in the higher terrain. - Gusts up to 40-50 mph elsewhere. RAIN - Highest rain amounts are likely across Mohave County and eastern Lincoln County where up to 0.75" to 1" may be possible. - Other lower elevation areas could see rainfall totals of 0.25" to 0.50". TEMPERATURES - Cooler temperatures are expected behind the cold front. Wednesday morning lows will be highly dependent on how quickly the clouds move out and how much the winds decrease. FOG - Fog development Wednesday morning is non-zero, and will be highly depending on how quickly the winds decrease, if at all, and how much precipitation falls in and around surrounding valleys. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Saturday. The Tuesday winter storm system should push out rather quickly Wednesday as it is being forced eastward by the next in a line of systems originating from the west coast of Canada. In fact, the trough axis is progged to be positioned just west of the CRV by 06Z Wednesday, and 24 hours later, is forecast to be located in Minnesota. This quick exit does allow for a brief period of quieter conditions Wednesday, other than some breezy winds across the southern third of the CWA. However, come late Wednesday/early Thursday, the next system is expected to begin bringing another round of snowfall to at least the Sierra come Thursday. Uncertainty is still quite high on the trajectory this next system takes, whether that be more southeasterly (drier and faster) or southerly (wetter and slower). Cluster analysis during this period shows that while the overall consensus is the former outcome, the wetter/slower solution consists of the largest amount of members, with 3/4 of the GEFS contributing to it and 1/5 of the EC. This gives us a range of possibilities late week when it comes to possible precipitation chances and secondarily wind gusts associated with this system. The latest 00Z GFS (and GEFS mean) continues to hint at a deeper, slower, and more favorable precipitation set up, so it will be interesting to see if the EC/GEM trend this direction or maintain a drier, weaker set up. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Winds overnight will progressively shift to the northwest, but will remain light through sunrise. Through the morning, winds will be light and variable, but will favor an easterly direction. Approaching sunset, southerly winds will enhance to 8-10 kts and will continue overnight. Gusty south winds return Tuesday afternoon with speeds in excess of 20 kts expected. SCT-BKN aoa 12 kft expected to move in this morning and remain through the TAF period. Low level clouds aoa 8 kft expected Tuesday morning. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Winds will be light and diurnal through the rest of the overnight period before breezy south winds pick up across the region this afternoon, favoring the higher terrain. Southerly wind gusts will fall off after sunset for most. The exception will be the southern Great Basin, where southerly gusts in excess of 30 kts will persist overnight, impacting KBIH and KTPH. Southerly gusts will expand southward through the day on Tuesday, impacting all regional TAF sites. SCT-BKN aoa 12 kft expected to move in this morning and remain through the TAF period. Low level clouds aoa 8 kft expected Tuesday morning. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Peters/Morgan LONG TERM...TB3 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 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A spotter measured 28 inches of snow in Aspendell.
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, December 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: 989180.