Strong high pressure over the Desert Southwest brought several days of scorching temperatures.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
Strong high pressure over the Desert Southwest brought several days of scorching temperatures.
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 Jul 7, 8:55 AM PST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 955 AM PDT Wed Jul 7 2021 .SYNOPSIS...Temperatures will continue climbing well above normal today leading to a period of excessive heat which will take hold of the region into early next week. Southeast flow Thursday and Friday will bring a brief period of increasing moisture, mainly to northwest Arizona and the lower Colorado River Valley, though excessively hot conditions will continue. && .UPDATE...The Excessive Heat Warning is now in effect for the entire region through Monday (with Heat Advisories for the higher elevations of southern NV). We are running about 2-3 degrees warmer than those observed yesterday. So another warm and dry day is in store. No forecast changes were needed this morning. -Peters && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued at 239 AM PDT Wed Jul 7 2021/ .SHORT TERM...Today through Friday. The main story will be the Excessive Heat Warning going into effect for the entire region today and continuing through at least Monday. Temperatures this afternoon will likely break the record of 106 in Bishop and be within 2-3 degrees of record values for Las Vegas and Death Valley (see climate section below). The center of of the high pressure responsible for the heat will slowly move from near southern Nevada toward the Four Corners Thursday and Friday. This will place our region in southeast flow aloft which will allow mid level moisture from Arizona and New Mexico to move our way. In addition, there are indications from various models that moisture from the surface to 850 mb will push up from the Gulf of California Thursday into the Colorado River Valley past Lake Havasu to Laughlin-Bullhead City and nearby areas of eastern San Bernardino and southern Mohave counties. The latest NBM dewpoint grids also have values of 55-60F over these areas. Though confidence is low in a significant gulf surge event making it up into southern Nevada, it is worth keeping an eye on. The increasing moisture won't provide any appreciable heat relief since humidity will increase. The latest NBM PoP grids keep values below 10 percent and no mention of thunderstorms is warranted for now. However, there is a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms over the mountains between eastern Mohave county and Flagstaff Thursday and Friday and any storms would move to the west or northwest. .LONG TERM...Saturday through Tuesday. High pressure is forecast to intensify over the weekend with the high centered directly over the forecast area. NBM temperatures have inched up over the weekend with Saturday continuing to stand out as the hottest day although very little change in temperature is forecast for Sunday. The latest NBM probability of seeing 115 degrees in Las Vegas sits at 74 percent on Saturday and 65 percent on Sunday. Probabilities for tying the all time record of 117 degrees in Las Vegas on Sat/Sun is now 43 and 34 percent respectively. Looking up in the Spring Mountains at roughly 7000 feet, high temperatures are forecast around 90 degrees both days but probabilities are very high that temperatures could reach the mid 90s which would mean some of the hottest conditions on record. So, any way you cut it, it's going to be dangerously hot this weekend. Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories are out and everyone is encouraged to plan accordingly and take the necessary precautions to stay safe. High pressure remains over the area into early next week although the intensity is forecast to wane by Tuesday. Very hot conditions linger into Monday, as does the extreme heat headlines, even with temperatures forecast to decrease a few degrees. This very slight cooling is not expected to provide any relief and instead, just adds another day to the duration of this heat event. A more substantial drop in temperatures is forecast for Tuesday but will still be above the seasonal averages. && .CLIMATE...Listed below are a few climate locations showing both the record high maximum and high minimum temperature for each location and the year the record was last set for next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. LOCATION WED-JULY 7 THU-JULY 8 FRI-JULY 9 (HIGH MAX) Record(year) Record(year) Record(year) Las Vegas NV 116(2017) 113(2017) 113(2012) Bishop CA 106(2017) 106(2017) 107(2002) Barstow CA 116(1989) 113(2017) 113(2002) Needles CA 122(2017) 120(2017) 119(1961) Kingman AZ 112(2017) 108(2017) 108(1985) Desert Rock NV 111(2017) 109(2018) 112(2002) Death Valley CA 127(2017) 128(1913) 129(1913) LOCATION WED-JULY 7 THU-JULY 8 FRI-JULY 9 (HIGH MIN) Record(year) Record(year) Record(year) Las Vegas NV 93(2018) 92(2017) 92(2017) Bishop CA 72(2014) 70(1991) 72(1975) Barstow CA 80(2018) 83(1989) 85(2017) Needles CA 95(1942) 95(2018) 93(1985) Kingman AZ 80(1917) 84(2017) 82(2017) Desert Rock NV 82(1981) 79(1996) 86(1985) && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Typical diurnal winds are expected through most of the TAF period, with generally east winds and southwest breezes overnight with speeds 8KT or less. A brief period of southeast winds is possible around 00Z with speeds around 8-10KT possible. There is also a low chance for west winds at 10-15KT to push into the terminal about 03Z-06Z before speeds drop back and winds veer to southwest again after 06Z. Extreme temperatures are expected through the weekend, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees each morning between by 10AM and falling below in the 10-11 PM time frame. High temperatures each day will reach over 110 degrees. Otherwise, occasional clouds around 15kft are expected, especially this afternoon and again Thursday morning. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona, and southeast California...Another day with breezy southeast winds at BIH is expected, with gusts this afternoon 20-25KT likely. A brief push of west to southwest winds is possible at BIH around 00Z, but low confidence for this to occur at this time. DAG should also see their typical west push starting at 00Z, with speeds around 15KT and low chance for gusts to 25KT at times. Otherwise, light diurnal wind trends are expected through Thursday morning. Clouds are possible at times at around 15kft. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Adair LONG TERM...Salmen CLIMATE...Peters AVIATION...Nickerson 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.
7 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached seven days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached six days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached six days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached seven days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached six days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached six days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached six days in a row.
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, July 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: 974553, 974554, 974555, 974556, 974557, 974558, 974559.