Strong low pressure and an associated cold front brought high downslope winds to the eastern Sierra slopes and Owens Valley, and high winds and dust storm conditions to the Mojave Desert.
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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 low pressure and an associated cold front brought high downslope winds to the eastern Sierra slopes and Owens Valley, and high winds and dust storm conditions to 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 Apr 2, 12:48 PM PST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 148 PM PDT Sun Apr 2 2023 .SYNOPSIS...The warmest temperatures of the year so far are expected today ahead of a strong storm system moving into the Great Basin. This storm will bring increasing winds to the region tonight into Monday along with much cooler temperatures. Cool weather will linger much of the week with winds gradually easing Tuesday onward and temperatures only slowly returning closer to normal by the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...through Monday. Warmer seasonal temperatures are in store for the region today, with the warmest temperatures of the year for some locations. These warmer temperatures won't last long as an incoming system will knock temperatures down by 10-20 degrees tomorrow. In addition to much cooler temperatures, this system will also bring strong gusty winds to the region, as well as increased precipitation chances to the higher elevations of the Southern Great Basin, Northwest Plateau, and mountains of Inyo County. Of the precipitation, cooler temperatures, and gusty winds forecast to accompany this system, the gusty winds will be the most impactful. As such, there are multiple Wind Advisories and High Wind Warnings in effect for the area through Monday evening. Gusty westerly/southwesterly winds will begin to pick up later this afternoon, with widespread gusts in excess of 40 mph by 5:00 pm PDT in northern San Bernardino County and the Eastern Sierra. These winds will quickly spread across the belt running from the Mojave Desert through Southern Nevada, and into Northwestern Arizona. These winds will ramp up throughout the evening with 55+ mph gusts across Northern San Bernardino County, Southern Clark County, and the Spring Mountains. Westerly downslope winds will be possible in the Eastern Sierra Slopes/Owens Valley and the Spring Mountains/Vegas Valley areas. These winds will make travel on north-south oriented roads hazardous, specifically along Highway 395 in the Owens Valley. By tomorrow morning these strong gusty southwesterly winds will have spread to the rest of San Bernardino and Mohave counties. Additionally, 40-50 mph northwesterly wind gusts will pick up in Esmeralda and Nye Counties as the trough axis swings through. These northwesterly winds will push southeast, spreading through the forecast area throughout the day on Monday. As more of the event has moved into the HiRes domain, we have seen PoPs increase slightly across southern Nevada tomorrow morning and afternoon. This is due to the HiRes models picking up on the meager instability in addition to the forcing from the cold front that will accompany the trough axis. While PoPs have increased, impactful precipitation will continue to be limited to Lincoln County, where 3- 6" inches of snow are expected in the higher elevations of the panhandle. Elsewhere a dusting of snow will be possible for elevations above 4,000 feet, with light rain showers at lower elevations. .LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday. By Tuesday this system will have cleared out of our area and into the plains. However, temperatures will remain well below average on Tuesday with breezy northwesterly winds lingering across the region. Ensemble mean solutions are beginning to hint at a Rex Block developing over the West around mid-week before being pushed out by a ridge. Deterministic models show a stronger signal for this Rex Block, which is likely due to the tendency for ensemble means to smooth out features with high degrees of variability. Regardless, once the system clears out we can expect a warming trend and relatively quieter weather for the latter half of the week. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...High confidence in gusty south- southwest winds this afternoon and continuing into the evening. Expecting gusts to around 25 kts this afternoon, slightly stronger this evening with gusts to around 34 kts. Lower confidence in the winds late tonight through early Monday morning as the wind at the terminal could peak and lull due to mountain waves breaking across the valley. For now, did include a period of less wind between 09Z and 14Z. Appears southwest winds pick up again between 14Z and 19Z Monday morning, then shift to the northwest after 19Z following a cold frontal passage. Gusts could approach 40 kts tomorrow. Patchy blowing dust may reduce visibilities as times but widespread low visibilities are not expected at this time. SCT-BKN080-100 deck of clouds associated with front, there will be showers over the mountains and can not rule out a few light showers in vicinity of the terminal. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Approach and passage of a cold front today through Monday will usher in a period of very strong west winds across the Mojave Desert. Gusts could exceed 50 kts at KDAG and KNXP tomorrow, producing some areas of reduced visibility in blowing dust. Post frontal gusty northwest winds will be impacting the Owens Valley at KBIH with gusts to at least 35 kts. The lower Colorado River Valley will be partial sheltered with gusts peaking around 30 kts. Scattered rain and snows will be accompanied by lower ceilings/ mountain obscurations across the southern Great Basin and northwest Arizona. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION...Stessman AVIATION...Pierce 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.
5 high wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A video showed dust storm conditions with near-zero visibility on Interstate 15 southwest of Baker.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in California, April 2023
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: 1093798, 1093799, 1093801, 1093802, 1093803, 1093805.