An atmospheric river and low pressure system brought high wind and heavy snow to the Spring Mountains. The episode continued into January 2023.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
An atmospheric river and low pressure system brought high wind and heavy snow to the Spring Mountains. The episode continued into January 2023.
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 31, 9:41 AM PST, 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 941 AM PST Sat Dec 31 2022 .SYNOPSIS...Widespread rain, high elevation snow, and gusty winds will impact the region today and tomorrow. Guidance shows that this active weather pattern will continue through the first week of the New Year. && .UPDATE...Nice baroclinic leaf on satellite over northern CA/Western Nevada ahead of trough digging southeast off the central California coast. Under that baroclinic leaf, moderate to heavy rain falling with snow in the higher elevations. Radar shows precipitation starting to increase over the southern Sierra. Based on surface observations in upper Bishop Creek I'm estimating snow levels are currently between 8500 and 9000 feet. Since about 8 am, there has been some light rain west of Bishop around the Tungsten Hills with. about a 0.10" up Highway 95 in Mono County at Toms Place. Not much has changed in the timing of the system. Looking at light precipitation developing around Las Vegas after 9 pm with main band likely coming through between midnight and 5 am Sunday. However, still could be dealing with some gusty south winds. Products look fine with no update planned. && .SHORT TERM...New Year's Weekend. Far be it from 2022 to go quietly after being such a memorable year in terms of weather for the region. New Year’s Eve will be an active weather day all across the Sierra, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions. With big shoes to fill, 2023 is determined to start with a bang, as Saturday’s active weather will continue into Sunday for much of the region. AR moisture will continue to spill into the Southern Great Basin this morning and afternoon, eventually making it to the Mojave Desert later this afternoon. Precipitation will begin in the eastern Sierra and Owens Valley this morning with precipitation spreading across the forecast area from northwest to southeast throughout the day. By later this evening, widespread precipitation will have spread across the region. Snow levels with today’s precipitation will be in the 7,000-8,000 foot range out ahead of the trough responsible for driving this moisture into the area and its associated cold front. This means that precipitation will fall as rain at elevations below 7,000 feet, with snow accumulation primarily limited to elevations above 7,000 feet today. As the trough axis swings through the Desert Southwest tomorrow, snow levels will crash to < 5,000 feet behind it. With nearly all of the precipitation expected to occur ahead of or with the associated cold front, it is unlikely that elevations or below 5,000 feet will see significant snowfall accumulations. In addition to falling snow levels with the passage of this trough, we will also see meager instability (SBCAPE < 150 J/kg) co-located with the base of the trough as it moves through. These CAPE values will be limited to the southern and eastern portions of the forecast area. While minimal, this instability will have the potential to product precipitation with that is more convective in nature on Sunday, especially over southern Mohave County and potentially eastern Lincoln County. The trough will sweep the AR moisture out of the region from west to east as it moves through, with precipitation clearing out of the region around midnight. With a 30-50 knot 850 mb jet approaching and moving through the area, precipitation will not be the only impactful weather as we usher in the New Year. Wind gusts in excess of 50 mph have already occurred in the Eastern Sierra, with observed wind gusts in excess of 40 mph in the Owens Valley. These winds will continue to increase as the trough approaches the forecast area, with widespread 30-50 mph gusts expected to pick up across the region throughout the day. These winds will be more west/southwesterly in the Sierra and Owens Valley, with south/southwesterly winds elsewhere. These winds will have the potential to result in blowing dust out ahead of the precipitation and blowing snow at higher elevations. Additionally, downslope winds in the Owens Valley may result in sudden gusty cross winds. As the trough moves through on Sunday, winds will shift to a more northerly direction behind the trough axis. These winds will be strongest in Central Nye and Southern Esmeralda counties. .LONG TERM...Monday through Friday. Sunny and dry start to Monday morning expected with below-average temperatures and breezy southwest afternoon winds. Thereafter, there is quite a bit of change to the forecast compared to our analysis 24- hours ago. An additional round of moisture will approach the western CONUS, bringing PoPs to the region Monday night into Tuesday. QPF has dropped substantially, which coincides with IVT plumes indicating the weak atmospheric river will take a further south track inland. That said, QPF has not completely dropped off, with moisture making its way south and around the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and over the San Bernardino mountains. ECMWF ensemble means put forecast PWAT values around half of an inch across the Mojave Desert Monday night. With this system will come some of the lowest precip-combined snow levels of the season, bottoming out around 2700 feet in Las Vegas. Not expecting anything in the way of accumulation, especially with the greatly diminished forecast precipitation totals, but cannot discount the chance of snow flurries on the western side of the Las Vegas Valley, and even a dusting in higher elevations of Summerlin and Red Rock. No impacts expected with this system other than impacts that accompany snow- related distracted driving. Remember to keep 2 times the distance between your car and the car in front of you, as slick roadways are more often caused by light precipitation than a deluge. A brief break in wintry weather expected Tuesday and Wednesday morning before the next wave approaches. As with the early-week system, this forecast is trending drier with a less favorable trajectory for Mojave Desert rainfall. QPF has dropped for the valleys and inland mountains, but increased for the Sierra Crest, as the bulk of the available moisture smacks into the mountain range and wrings out with minimal spill over. High uncertainty remains with this forecast, so details are subject to change as we approach this event. Through midweek, temperatures will remain a few degrees below seasonal averages, then will gradually increase toward average late- week. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...Initially minor impacts will continue to worsen through the evening and overnight hours tonight as a system moves through the area. Gusty southwest winds will increase late this morning with briefly improved CIGs. By the afternoon hours, mid level cloud cover will begin to lower again and eventually will lose visual approach near sunset, if not sooner. A round of light to occasionally moderate precip is possible near midnight as well. If holiday fireworks occur, a period of additional low level obscuration will be possible due to smoke. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Poor flying conditions expected today for all terminal sites due to gusty winds and low ceilings/precip. Downslope wind potential could lead to sudden westerly crosswinds at KBIH as well as mountain LLWS concerns. Most precip should be clear of the TAF sites by Sunday afternoon with improving ceiling conditions expected as well. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && UPDATE...Pierce SHORT TERM...Stessman LONG TERM...Varian AVIATION...TB3 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 high wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
These gusts occurred 3 miles NE of Mt. Charleston.
An estimated 12 inches of snow fell in Rainbow Canyon. The event continued into January 2023.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, December 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: 1067058, 1067059.