Cold low pressure digging south from the Gulf of Alaska brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada and isolated high winds to 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.
Cold low pressure digging south from the Gulf of Alaska brought heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada and isolated high winds 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 Mar 28, 12:20 PM PST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 120 PM PDT Tue Mar 28 2023 .SYNOPSIS...Our next weather system will impact the area late today through Thursday bringing heavy snow over the Sierra and Spring Mountains along with lighter amounts over the higher terrain of the southern Great Basin. Rainfall amounts in the valleys are expected to remain light. Gusty southwest winds are also expected Wednesday areawide. Temperatures will remain below normal through the end of the week, but rise to above normal over the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...Through Thursday. A deep upper level low, currently off the CA/OR coast will continue to track southeast over the next 48 hours before passing through southern Nevada as an open trough. Early afternoon radar is showing precipitation spreading into the Sierra in Mono County which will then gradually spread into Inyo County later this afternoon. In terms of past atmospheric rivers, this one is on the lower end, but still is expected to produce significant snowfall over the southern Sierra through Thursday. Snow levels are expected to begin around 7000 feet in the Sierra, but fall to around 4000 feet by Thursday morning, however, the over all flow with this AR will be more perpendicular to the Sierra Crest allowing for more shadowing further east. Still, places like Aspendell are expected to see at least a 70% chance of at least 6 inches of snow, a 50% chance of 8" and, and a 20% chance of seeing at least a foot of snow in a 36-48 hour period, whereas, Bishop only has a 4% chance of seeing at least an inch of snow. Rainfall amounts in the Owens Valley are expected to be relatively minor with most areas seeing generally less than a quarter of an inch. Further east, precipitation amounts will remain generally light in valley locations with most areas seeing less than a tenth of an inch, except for Lincoln County where precip totals between a quarter and half an inch are expected. Expected snow amounts in the Spring Mountains have come down slightly from previous runs, but areas above 7000 feet should expect to see between 8-12 inches of snow. A Winter Storm Warning will be in effect for the Sierra from until Wednesday evening and in the Spring Mountains from 5am to 5pm Wednesday. Will need to watch for the potential for at least winter weather advisories in portions of northern Lincoln County, but at this time the main impacts will remain fairly high. Another impact from this system will be wind. As the trough moves along the California coast, a 700 mb jet with peak speeds around 50 knots sets up. This should lead to gusty southwesterly surface winds over much of the forecast area on Wednesday, particularly the western Mojave Desert in California and Mohave County, Arizona where the jet appears to be the strongest. Issued a Wind Advisory for the affected areas, where peak gusts between 35 and 45 mph are expected. Lastly, the below normal temperature trend will continue through the short term. Today's temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees below normal, but once the cold front moves through on Wednesday, highs on Thursday will be 15 to 20 degrees below normal for late March. .LONG TERM...Friday through Monday. As the aforementioned closed low becomes an open wave and pushes eastward overnight Thursday into Friday morning, weak ridging sets up that will allow temperatures to approach seasonal normals over the weekend. This is likely to be brief, as the next weather system to impact our region has cool origins. Ensemble model guidance is in fairly good agreement for a Day 7 forecast, with both ECMWF and GFS ensemble means indicating a Pacific Northwest closed low dropping across the western CONUS. Exact timing and depth details remain unclear, but impacts will likely include light precipitation across the southern Great Basin, gusty west-southwest winds across the Mojave Desert, and persistent below-normal temperatures for the Desert Southwest. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...An approaching Pacific storm will bring increasing southerly winds by this evening, with speeds likely increasing above 10kts after 00Z. Winds will continue to increase overnight, and southwesterly winds with gusts to 30kts at times are likely Wednesday afternoon. Scattered clouds will remain above 15-20 kft this afternoon and into tonight but will lower to 8-10 kft AGL by tomorrow morning and decrease to around 6kft AGL by afternoon. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...A Pacific storm system moving south across California will increase winds at regional TAF sites into Wednesday. KBIH will see the strongest winds for the remainder of today, with southerly gusts to 30kts possible through the evening. Increasing winds can be expected at the other TAF sites overnight and Wednesday, with gusts of 20 to 30 kts expected area-wide by afternoon. CIGs will also decrease on Wednesday, with bases falling to 4-6kft AGL and mountain obscuration due to rain and snow likely along the Sierra. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Gorelow LONG TERM...Varian AVIATION...Planz 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 heavy snow, 1 avalanche, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Another 14.1 inches of snow fell at Aspendell.
An avalanche covered South Lake Road.
This wind occurred at Twentynine Palms (KNXP).
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, March 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: 1089517, 1089518, 1089519.