One person died in Las Vegas of cold-related causes.
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.
One person died in Las Vegas of cold-related causes.
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 20, 9:49 AM PST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 949 AM PST Mon Dec 20 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Dry conditions with increasing clouds are expected the next couple days along with moderating temperatures. A Pacific weather system will approach by midweek spreading rain and mountain snow to the Sierra, with lesser chances spreading across the Deserts on Thursday. Pattern will remain active through the holiday weekend with cool and breezy conditions as well as additional shower chances. && .UPDATE...Trough deepening out near 140W allowing ridge over the Intermountain West to bump up with heights slightly rising through Tuesday. Quick update to account for more high clouds the rest of today as they advance into the area. Decent swatch of high clouds continues through most of Tuesday before it looks like a brief break Tuesday night into Wednesday. More on the late week storm this afternoon. && .SHORT TERM...through Tuesday night. It's another clear and cool night, with regional temperatures generally very similar to this time yesterday, give or take a degree or two. Increasing high clouds have already begun to overspread the Southern Great Basin, with additional high clouds expected to invade our skies through the day today. Clouds will continue to thicken overnight which should moderate our morning temperatures several degrees Tuesday morning. Aside from the increasing clouds, temperatures will begin to climb closer to seasonal normal today and Tuesday in response to moderating morning low temperatures and increasing heights. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Sunday. Confidence may be even lower than in previous days, as ensembles remain almost evenly split between two clusters, with important differences still within each cluster. Wednesday, the only agreement is on the existence of a deep trough over the eastern Pacific, with an almost 50/50 division over whether this trough will be split between a northern piece and a southern piece or whether the streams will be phased. Either way, our area should be under mostly dry southwest flow, with snow chances beginning in the Sierra. Thursday, the two camps remain evenly divided over whether the trough will remain deep and slow, or begin to fill and progress eastward along the Canadian border. The former camp would suggest a better chance of warm advection precip for much of our area, while the second camp would suggest cloudy and breezy, with precip mostly confined to the mountains. Friday through Sunday aren't any better, as there are differences in magnitude and trajectory of the next reinforcing shot of cold air diving through Canada. The main model trend since yesterday seems to be toward less precip for the lower elevations than previously thought, but confidence in any trends will remain below average until they are consistent over a couple of days. The worst part of this low confidence forecast is that it covers a huge travel weekend. While confidence leaves a lot to be desired at this time, there is pretty solid agreement on an extended period of heavy snow in the Sierra, starting as soon as Wednesday evening. This snow will likely continue most of the day Thursday before breaking a bit on Friday. However, the break may be short-lived as additional troughing is suggested over the weekend which could bring additional accumulations to even lower elevations in the Sierra through Sunday. Given the extended duration of hazardous winter weather possible, as well as the coexistence of one of the biggest holiday travel weekends of the year - went ahead and issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Sierra from Wednesday through Sunday. Outside of the Sierra, despite the continued uncertainty, the main message remains to prepare for rain, high elevation snow, and wind around the Christmas holiday. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...No operationally significant impacts expected through Tuesday morning. Winds will remain light, under 10 kts, and will follow diurnal trends. High clouds will continue to gradually move in from the west throughout the day. Mid-level clouds with bases aoa 15kft will begin to move in around 00Z on Tuesday with BKN to OVC skies likely. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...No operationally significant weather impacts are expected at the remaining TAF sites. Winds will remain relatively light, following diurnal trends with periods of light and variable winds possible at times. High and mid-level clouds will continue to move in from the west resulting in SCT to OVC skies. Cloud bases should remain aoa 15 kft. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && UPDATE...Pierce SHORT TERM...Outler LONG TERM...Morgan/Outler AVIATION...Stessman 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 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
One person died in Las Vegas of cold-related causes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Las Vegas Valley | 2021-12-20 | 75 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, 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: 996337.