A cold low pressure system passed through the Desert Southwest, bringing snow down to some desert floors and heavy snow to the higher elevations.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
A cold low pressure system passed through the Desert Southwest, bringing snow down to some desert floors and heavy snow to the higher elevations.
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 Jan 24, 7:46 PM PST, 4 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 746 PM PST Sun Jan 24 2021 .SYNOPSIS...A very cold winter weather system will move into the area tonight and Monday bringing potential for significant high elevation snow and a wintry mix to the lower elevations Monday night into Tuesday. Strong winds are also expected across western San Bernardino County on Monday. This system exits Tuesday with another to follow Wednesday and Thursday. This late week system will provide the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains a prolonged period of heavy snow with chances for precipitation spreading to the remainder of the area by the end of the work week. && .UPDATE...Updated to remove mention of evening precipitation from the Las Vegas Valley as we are still enjoying the calm before the storm. Radar detecting widespread rain across the central valley of California with isolated-scattered showers from Santa Barbara County south into San Diego County. Deep, closed low still progged to close off over the western Mojave Desert Monday morning. Low will slowly slide east through Tuesday morning producing widespread precipitation for the region. Most of this will fall in the form of snow at elevation above 3000 feet. Lower CO River Valley will see all rain. Just trailing the system tomorrow strong winds are forecast to develop across the western Mojave Desert and Morongo Basin. Current suite of headlines looks fine and no additional highlight will be added this evening. && .SHORT TERM...Today through Monday night. Numerous weather headlines in effect for Monday into Tuesday morning as we gear up for our first significant, low elevation winter weather event in a couple of years. An area of low pressure will drop down the Western CONUS on Monday bringing widespread impacts. Through the day, this low pressure will close off and move directly through our forecast area, supplying the dynamics and cold temperatures for impacts to persist through the evening and overnight hours. As such, primary times of concern will be the morning commute both Monday and Tuesday. Let's get into some of the details... Precipitation chances will increase markedly across the entire forecast area early Monday morning, starting in the Sierra Nevada and pushing eastward. This system will be quite cold, with a 532-536 mb low queued to drop down the center of our forecast area. As such, snow levels will drop fairly low during this event. Snow levels will range from 3000 to 4000 ft overnight Sunday into Monday, resulting in a total of 3-6 inches of snow for the Sierra Nevada, White Mountains, Esmeralda County, NV and central Nye County, NV. A Winter Weather Advisory is in place for these areas starting Sunday night at 7pm and lasting through 4pm PST Monday afternoon that looks in good shape. As the low pushes eastward through the forecast area, picking up moisture and utilizing afternoon "heating" and dynamics to its advantage, impacts will begin for the higher elevations of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Winter Storm Watches were upgraded to Winter Storm Warnings for these areas overnight. They go into effect 4am Monday morning through 4am PST Tuesday morning for the Clark County mountains (Spring Mountains and Sheep Range), and elevations above 4000 ft in Lincoln County, NV and northeastern San Bernardino County, CA and above 2000 ft in Mohave County, excluding the Lake zones. NBM and WPC Guidance continue to advertise 8-16 inches of snow above 6000ft in the Spring Mountains and 4-8 inches of snow around Mountain Springs, the higher elevations of Red Rock Canyon, the Mojave National Preserve and on I-15 at Mountain Pass with slightly higher amounts in the higher elevations of Mohave County. As such hazardous travel is possible. Take caution if planning regional travel and consider alternate routes. In addition to these Warnings, there is also a Winter Weather Advisory for western and southern Clark County including the Las Vegas Valley. Not much has changed between the overnight and the afternoon forecast package regarding QPF. There remains a bit of uncertainty regarding low elevation snowfall. Precipitation will occur. But will it be snow or rain? For this answer, we largely look at forecast snow levels. In other words, at what elevations can we expect snow to fall instead of rain? If we give the NBM 800 to 1000 ft wiggle room on either side of the forecast snow levels, this could result in quite a snow total discrepancy. Unfortunately, many of our areas, particularly cities that lie in valleys, have wide ranges of elevation changes over small areas. As such, cities including Las Vegas, Yucca Valley, and Mesquite to Beaver Dam, can expect 1-3", but the lower elevation parts of these areas may only see flurries. Though chances exist Monday morning, the highest chances will be Tuesday morning as snow levels plummet overnight. Those commuting from the far western portions of the Las Vegas Valley may experience travel impacts, if for no reason other than traffic pile-ups from people taking photos (please don't take photos while driving). Additionally, Travel concerns in these cities aren't expected to be substantial, as the concrete and asphalt shouldn't be cold enough for much to accumulate on roadways. Elsewhere, precipitation that falls as rain will range from 0.25 to 0.50" through the event. Residual CAPE values across portions of Mohave County could amount to an isolated afternoon thunderstorm. If this comes to fruition, locally higher precipitation rates are expected, though this is not anticipated to be the prevailing weather phenomena. Widespread gusty winds anticipated across the region Monday. In Esmeralda County, northerly winds with gusts 30-35 mph expected; in southern Mohave County, southerly winds with gusts 30-35 mph expected with higher elevations seeing gusts to 40 mph; in San Bernardino County, westerly winds sustained between 30 and 40 mph and gusts 50-55 mph expected. As a result, there remains a Wind Advisory in effect for northwestern and south-central San Bernardino County including Barstow-Daggett, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms beginning 8am Monday and lasting through 9pm PST. WFO Hanford has a High Wind Warning against our border in Kern County. This afternoon's forecast update had minimal changes to gust intensity, so unlikely that we will need to upgrade to a High Wind Warning in our portions of San Bernardino County, but will keep an eye on it as the system evolves nevertheless. .LONG TERM...Tuesday through Friday. Mid-to-late next week, another weather system is expected to drop down the Western CONUS and bring active weather. This system continues to take on a westward trajectory before curling into the Desert Southwest. As a result, it will pick up a substantial amount of moisture from the Pacific as it aligns with a fairly robust atmospheric river surge. This moisture will smack into the Sierra Nevada and wring out. Forecast snowfall totals for the Sierra and White Mountains are on the order of feet, not inches, with 1 to 3 feet currently forecast above 6000 ft. Snow accumulations for the Owens Valley continue to have low-to-moderate confidence, as it will depend on the amount of moisture that makes it up and over the Sierra. That said, they aren't expected to be left out altogether. The Owens Valley can expect 4-8 inches of snow with over a foot possible over 4500 ft which will cause significant travel impacts in the valley. Ensemble members highlighted in ECMWF and GEFS meteograms indicate much higher values than this for Bishop, but historically, these values have not been representative of reality, and thus we are taking them with a grain of salt. With these incredible snowfall amounts expected on top of what these areas have received/will receive at the start of the week, Winter Storm Watches have been coordinated with our neighbors at the Reno WFO for the Sierra Nevada, Owens Valley and White Mountains from 7pm Tuesday night through 4am PST Friday morning. Though we can't discuss exact snow totals with certainty at this moment, we can say that impacts to area roadways will be major with very difficult to impossible travel expected on Highway 395, State Route 168 through Westgard Pass, Highway 190 and Highway 136. Elsewhere, not looking to be many impacts. Additional snowfall accumulation on the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range as well as Lincoln and Nye counties possible between 2 and 3 inches, with up to 6 additional inches at the higher elevations above 7000 ft. Snow totals in Esmeralda County increased quite a bit for this event from the previous run. A Winter Weather Advisory may need to be hoisted for this county, but the NBM does not seem too sold on 24-hour amounts reaching criteria. Will keep an eye on how the forecast trends in this area over the next couple of shifts. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Diurnal winds with minimal impacts expected to continue through the evening before winds start to pick up around midnight from the southwest. At this time, there exists a chance of light showers, though prevailing rain showers don't enter the TAF until 11Z. Through the early morning, showers will become more prevailing and ceilings will sink substantially, potentially dropping below 1 kft at times with a drop in visibility below 4 SM. Rain chances and low clouds will continue intermittently through the TAF period with gusty southerly winds around 20 kts. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Light and diurnal winds with minimal impacts expected to continue through the afternoon as conditions improve across the Colorado River Valley and Mohave County. Around midnight, shower potential enters the forecast for the Las Vegas Valley and Owens Valley TAF sites. Prevailing chances start in the early morning hours between 11 and 12Z. Showers will likely fall as snow at KBIH, coupled with gusty winds to 20 kts, visibilities could drop below 3 SM. Areawide as showers develop, ceilings could drop below 1 kft at times. Showers and low clouds will continue intermittently through the TAF period. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && UPDATE...Pierce DISCUSSION/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.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Twenty inches of snow fell at Mount Charleston.
Up to 12 inches of snow fell on the higher elevations of the Nevada National Security Site.
There were several reports of one to three inches of snow around the periphery of the Las Vegas Valley, with little or none near the center of the Valley.
Five inches of snow fell in Indian Springs, and four inches fell in Pahrump.
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, January 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: 938754, 938756, 938759, 938755.