The first heat wave of the season pushed temperatures well over 100 degrees in much of the Mojave Desert.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
The first heat wave of the season pushed temperatures well over 100 degrees in much of the Mojave Desert.
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 Jun 2, 10:43 AM PST, 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Las Vegas NV
1143 AM PDT Wed Jun 2 2021
.SYNOPSIS...Well above average temperatures expected this week, with
an Excessive Heat Warning in effect today through Friday for much of
the Mojave Desert. Aside from spotty afternoon showers and
thunderstorms over and near the Sierra Nevada and portions of
south-central Nevada, dry conditions continue. Slightly lower
temperatures and increasing wind possible over the weekend into
early next week. &&
.SHORT TERM...Today through Friday.
The high amplitude ridge overhead will remain in place through
Friday before heights begin to fall over the weekend. As a result,
the main impacts through the rest of the week will continue to be
the High HeatRisk areas across much of the Mojave Desert where near
record temperatures are possible. As such, an Excessive Heat Warning
will remain in effect through Friday. People in the High and Very
High HeatRisk areas are not encouraged to engage in excessive
outdoor activity, and should not expect much in the way of heat
relief overnight. If you have to spend time outside, make sure to
hydrate, even when you're not thirsty, and take frequent breaks in
the shade and air conditioning. As mentioned in the previous
forecast discussion, forecast afternoon temperatures are creeping up
a couple of degrees with each model run, increasing the potential
for broken records this week. Records for our climate sites as well
as forecast highs and lows can be found in the CLIMATE section below.
Some mid-level moisture trapped under the ridge will be possible
today and tomorrow. Some hires models are indicating a non-zero
chance for a few isolated showers/storms to develop along the higher
terrain of south-central NV later today and tomorrow. Instability
values are modest at best (50-150 J/kg) and with a very dry sub-
cloud layer, not anticipating any storms that do develop to last
very long or result in anything more than a few sprinkles, if that,
and likely only be virga showers. Slightly more instability is
expected tomorrow leading to potentially a few stronger updrafts,
where some lightning (likely dry lightning) will be possible. Even
with inverted V profiles, DCAPE values don't look great, but some
breezy to gusty winds around 30-40 mph maybe possible with the
stronger virga showers/storms. Residual moisture will remain Friday
as well, resulting in only some slight chances for our northern CWA
border.
.LONG TERM...Saturday through next Tuesday.
The high pressure ridge flattens over the weekend allowing
temperatures to drop ever so slightly on Saturday and again on
Sunday. An incoming trough could continue the cooling trend and
return temperatures back to seasonal levels next week...at least
according to the latest NBM guidance. Instead of looking at
probabilities of temperatures reaching 105 degrees in Las Vegas as
we currently are for the short term, we could be looking at
probabilities of temperatures reaching 95 degrees. The cooler temps
do not come without a price however, in the form of increasing wind.
Currently not seeing any significant wind but instead, multiple days
of gusty conditions that could begin as early as this weekend. When
viewing the cluster analysis, there appears to be relatively decent
agreement regarding the incoming trough not making much eastward
progress by day 7. Much of the variance in model solutions is
related to location where the EC ENS mean remains off the west coast
on day 7 while the GEFS/CEM is along the coast or inland at that
time. The amount of ensemble spread for next Monday and beyond
indicates a high degree of uncertainty in the temperature forecast
meaning there will likely be adjustments to the forecast
temperatures while models adjust, dial-in, and finally lock-in the
weather pattern as it evolves over the upcoming days.
&&
.CLIMATE...Record warm temperatures are expected in the mornings and
afternoons Wednesday through Friday. The table below shows the record
high temperature for each location and the year the record was last set,
followed by the forecast temperature.
HIGH MAX WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 THURSDAY, JUNE 3 FRIDAY, JUNE 4
Record(Yr)/Fcst Record(Yr)/Fcst Record (Yr)/Fcst
Las Vegas 107(2003)/106 107(2016)/107 109(2016)/107
Bishop 100(2003)/102 100(2016)/101 102(2016)/101
Needles 115(1910)/111 116(2016)/110 118(2016)/111
Barstow-Daggett 108(2003)/106 110(1996)/107 110(1996)/106
Kingman 102(2016)/98 103(2016)/98 108(2016)/100
Desert Rock 103(2003)/101 105(1996)/101 106(2016)/101
Death Valley 120(2016)/119 120(2020)/120 122(1996)/118
The table below shows the record high minimum - or warmest low -
temperature for each location and the year the record was last set,
followed by the forecast temperature.
HIGH MIN WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 THURSDAY, JUNE 3 FRIDAY, JUNE 4
Record(Yr)/Fcst Record(Yr)/Fcst Record (Yr)/Fcst
Las Vegas 83(2012)/79 82(2016)/81 83(2007)/82
Bishop 62(1981)/59 61(2013)/61 62(1997)/59
Needles 84(2007)/78 86(1960)/81 84(2020)/79
Barstow-Daggett 78(2012)/77 76(1968)/78 77(1960)/75
Kingman 79(1903)/67 75(1903)/70 77(1903)/68
Desert Rock 77(1986)/69 75(2003)/73 75(2003)/74
Death Valley 91(2013)/87 91(1939)/91 94(2013)/90
&&
.AVIATION...For McCarran...Tranquil weather will continue for the
terminal area through Thursday. Afternoon easterly wind components
generally less than 7 knots can be expected followed by west or
southwest components during the early evening and overnight hours.
For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast
California...No significant weather is expected across most of the
region through Thursday with typical diurnal winds with late
afternoon and evening breezes around 15-20 knots possible across
western San Bernardino County and around Bishop. Afternoon buildups
over the southern Sierra and south central Nevada will become more
extensive Thursday afternoon with isolated thunderstorms possible.
&&
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report
any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating
procedures.
&&
SHORT TERM...Peters
LONG TERM...Salmen
CLIMATE...Varian
AVIATION...Adair
For more forecast information...see us on our webpage:
https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and TwitterThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached four days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached four days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached four days in a row.
Excessive Heat Warning criteria were reached four 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, June 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: 969689, 969690, 969691, 969692.