Low pressure passing by to the north brought a period of high downslope winds to the eastern slopes of the southern Sierra and into the Owens Valley.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Low pressure passing by to the north brought a period of high downslope winds to the eastern slopes of the southern Sierra and into the Owens Valley.
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 Mar 13, 2:02 AM PST, 6 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 302 AM PDT Sun Mar 13 2022 .SYNOPSIS...A disturbance brushing northern California and Nevada today will bring strong winds to the Sierra and western Mojave Desert, followed by fairly tranquil conditions Monday under a brief ridge. Tuesday and Wednesday, another trough will bring mainly increasing winds and slight cooling to the region. && .SHORT TERM...Through Monday night. Early morning satellite loop showed impressive mountain wave clouds quickly filling in over the eastern Sierra slopes and Owens Valley as the belt of stronger mid level winds arrived. Surface obs did not show any stronger winds yet, although that will change by sunrise. Over the rest of the region, temperatures were warmer than 24 hours ago, and pressure had fallen by about 10 mb. Wind is still the main problem for the short term. The strongest winds are still expected in Inyo County, where some of the "hottest" high resolution models are suggesting wind gusts of 70 mph developing over the Sierra slopes this morning and pushing across the Owens Valley this afternoon, while the NBM 4.0 (which is often a bit too "cool") showing a 44% chance of wind gusts reaching 40 mph at Independence. The current Wind Advisory is a good middle ground and will be left as is, although spotty damaging winds remain possible. As the stronger winds work their way south, San Bernardino County will feel them as well. Confidence is higher than 24 hours ago that strong west winds will funnel into the Barstow area around midday, followed by west to northwest winds in the Morongo Basin this afternoon. The Wind Advisories for these areas look good as well. The cold front should be through the entire region around midnight tonight. The post frontal northerly winds could briefly flirt with Wind Advisory criteria in Esmeralda and central Nye counties this afternoon, but look unimpressive for Monday, even in the Colorado River Valley. Temperatures will be within a few degrees of mid March normals both today and Monday. .LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday. A weather system is forecast to impact the west coast from central California northward to Washington state late Monday night into early Tuesday. The system is forecast to weaken as it moves into the northern Great Basin on Tuesday. For our area, breezy winds will develop across parts of the area but at this time, the need for wind headlines looks unlikely as the main energy passes to our north. With the wind, we should see full mixing leading to much warmer temperatures despite the falling 500mb heights. The official high temperature forecast in Las Vegas for Tuesday is in the upper 70s but the latest NBM gives a 60 percent probability of the high reaching or exceeding 80 degrees. Broad troughing is forecast to move across southern Nevada on Wednesday with a weak upper level disturbance passing through on Thursday. This will bring slightly cooler temperatures to the area although mild conditions will continue with high temperatures remaining above normal. Friday and Saturday...A ridge of high pressure moves into the west on Friday to begin the next warming trend. Whether the ridging holds strong over the west into Saturday or is more transient and moves east will depend on the next eastern Pacific wave. Uncertainty is high given the wide variety of solutions for the wave so confidence in the forecast beyond Friday is low. It may take a day or two for the models to shake off the outliers and come into better agreement regarding the weather pattern for next weekend. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...In general, expecting low impact aviation weather today through Monday morning. However, there is some uncertainty in the forecast that could impact aviation concerns. High confidence in light winds less than 8KT through 20Z. After 20Z, winds will either remain variable and light or they could become southwest at 8-10KT. By 00Z, winds should start to veer west or northwest, however again it is uncertain how strong these winds will be tonight. There is a low chance for winds of 10-15KT with a few gusts to around 20KT after 03Z. Winds will eventually become north to northeast at 350-020 degrees tonight, likely after midnight. If winds do pick up this evening, they would diminish to around 8-10KT with this wind shift tonight. Otherwise, a few high clouds this morning and again Monday are possible but for the most part clear skies are expected through the TAF period. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Gusty winds are expected at KBIH today, however strength and direction is uncertain. The most likely scenario would be a north-northwest wind at 15-20KT gusting to 25-30KT this afternoon, however there is some potential for strong west winds coming down the nearby mountains. Gusts 35KT or more are possible with the west winds, however there is low confidence in this occurring. Outside of KBIH, breezy west to northwest winds will spread across California and the Great Basin area later this morning and afternoon, then into southern Nevada and western Arizona tonight. Gusts 20-30KT are possible with these winds, with higher gusts over 35KT expected in KDAG this afternoon. Winds are expected to diminish tonight. Occasional high clouds are expected at times through Monday morning. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Morgan LONG TERM...Salmen 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.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
These winds occurred 3 miles NNE of Aspendell.
The peak gust occurred 5 miles NW of Independence. A big rig was blown over on Highway 395 3 miles NW of West Bishop.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, March 2022
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: 1012570, 1012571.