Nevada, 2021

High Wind in Nevada, April 25, 2021

April 25, 2021 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An approaching cold front brought gusty winds to much of the Mojave Desert. Isolated high winds occurred.

Where it happened

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.

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  • Floods
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  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.

An approaching cold front brought gusty winds to much of the Mojave Desert. Isolated high winds occurred.

What forecasters said that day

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 Apr 25, 7:30 AM PST, 4 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 7:30 AM PST, 4 hours 57 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Las Vegas NV
830 AM PDT Sun Apr 25 2021

.SYNOPSIS...Widespread windy and dusty conditions are expected
through today ahead of a weather system that will bring a chance for
shower activity to most of the region early in the workweek.
Much cooler temperatures will accompany the changing weather
conditions Monday and Tuesday before high pressure builds across the
area Wednesday onward with temperatures climbing above normal.
&&

.UPDATE...Windy day in store for much of the region today ahead of a
potent spring trough which will swing through the region tonight
through Tuesday. Winds this morning have already been gusting 30-40
mph from the western Mojave Desert into southern Nevada, with gusts
of 40-50 already across the Nevada Test site and near Red Rock
Canyon. Winds will strengthen further today, and may flirt with high
wind criteria at times downslope of terrain features, particularly
the Spring Mountains and southern Owens Valley.  Otherwise, the
forecast remains on track and no updates are needed this morning.

-Outler-

.SHORT TERM...through Sunday night.

A deepening low over northern CA will bring another day of
widespread gusty winds to the region. Winds have diminished somewhat
overnight, but will increase by late morning and especially in the
afternoon as surface pressure gradients tighten. Most areas will see
wind gusts between 40-50 mph, but there will be a few locations that
will see localized gusts topping 55-60 mph. These include the
eastern slopes of the Spring Mountains from Red Rock to Desert Rock
where strong downslope may develop late this afternoon. Another area
where winds could see these higher gusts will be along Highway 395
south of Lone Pine where that area is susceptible to downslope winds
off the Sierra. Winds should start to diminish fairly quickly after
sunset, but still remain gusty at times through midnight. Winds
Monday will be lighter across the area, but still expected to be
breezy at times.

By late Sunday afternoon, precipitation is expected to spread into
the Sierra and eventually spill into the northern Owens Valley
Sunday evening. Most of the precipitation will be intercepted by the
Sierra with just a few hundredths expected in Bishop. Places higher
in the Sierra could see a little snow with Aspendell potentially
seeing 2-4 inches of snow by Monday morning. Precipitation will then
spread east overnight and Monday with scattered showers possible
over much of the region. It still looks like amounts will remain
fairly light over much of the area with totals generally less than a
tenth of an inch. Higher amounts, up to a quarter inch, are possible
across Esmeralda, central Nye, Lincoln, and northern Mohave
Counties, along with the Spring Mountains.

Temperatures will be drastically cooler Monday with highs dropping
about 15-20 degrees from today's highs.

LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday

The eastward exit of the low pressure system over the Southwest US
will give way to a strong upper level ridge setting up over the
Western U.S. from Tuesday through the end of the period. Latest
ensemble model guidance shows some interesting things with regard to
this ridge.

Both the European and GFS Ensemble Systems show very few differences
in the strength and positioning of the ridge. Further investigation
of the Principle Component Clustering analysis show incredibly small
variance in ensemble members. What little variance exists center
mainly on the ECMWF and Canadian solutions indicating a more knocked
down ridge than the GFS due to passing short waves over the northern
periphery of said ridge. This has almost little to no appreciable
effect on sensible weather for our area.

What does all this technical stuff mean? Well, it leads to a very
high confidence forecast in temperatures and other weather elements
due to the very low spread in forecasted values for the coming week.
The most notable part of the forecast is Friday and Saturday when the
area is likely to make a run at 100 degree temperatures.

Death Valley and portions Colorado River Valley are likely to see
some 100s for the first time since earlier in the month. Vegas and
the rest of Clark and Mohave Counties are another matter. While 100
degree temperatures in these areas are not completely out of the
question, it is more likely at this point that we end up just shy of
the century mark. For those that are wondering, in Las Vegas the
earliest recorded 100 degree temperature was May 1st, in 1947. If in
the unlikely chance we did hit 100 later in the week, it would set
an all-time earliest 100 record. Might be something fun to watch
later this week.
&&

.FIRE WEATHER...Red Flag warning remains in effect into this evening
evening for much of southern Nevada and northwest Arizona. Relative
humidity values will tick upward a tad today but winds will be
stronger. Improving conditions come tonight with increasing humidity
and chances for light rainfall spreading across the region Monday
and Tuesday. Much cooler temperatures will also be felt Monday and
Tuesday.
&&

.AVIATION...For McCarran...An approaching Pacific System
will keep south winds gusting 20-25 kts early this morning then
gusts around 35 knots will redevelop late this morning through the
afternoon. Haze and patchy blowing dust will be possible this
afternoon, but are not expected to reduce visibility below 6 SM.
Gusts will decrease somewhat this evening but will likely reach 25-
30 knots at times overnight. BKN-OVC clouds above 20 kft today will
be followed by SCT-BKN clouds lowering to 6-10 kft AGL early Monday
morning as the system moves into southern Nevada.

For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast
California...An approaching Pacific System will produce widespread
gusty south-southwest winds 35-45 knots across the region today. The
belt of strong winds will encompass a large area stretching from the
Mojave Desert across the southern Great Basin. Haze and patchy
blowing dust possible each afternoon, but not expected to reduce
visibility below 6 SM at TAF sites. Precipitation will spread into
the southern Sierra this afternoon and evening then scattered to
numerous showers will develop over south central Nevada late tonight
with clouds bases lowering to 8-12 kft feet MSL leading to areas of
mountain obscuration.
&&

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report
any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating
procedures.
&&

SHORT TERM...Gorelow
LONG TERM...Lericos
AVIATION...Adair

For more forecast information...see us on our webpage:
https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Western Clark/Southern Nye

When
April 25, 12:27 PM PST to 1:07 PM PST
Where
Western Clark/Southern Nye forecast zone
Measured
53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
37.129, -115.743 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

These winds occurred at the Mercury-Desert Rock (KDRA) ASOS.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Nevada in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, April 2021

Sources

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: 952107.