Low pressure directed an atmospheric river into the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin, resulting in heavy snow in the mountains. After the atmospheric river had departed, the low passed overhead, and the cold temperatures aloft helped trigger thunderstorms, two of which produced severe winds.
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The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Low pressure directed an atmospheric river into the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin, resulting in heavy snow in the mountains. After the atmospheric river had departed, the low passed overhead, and the cold temperatures aloft helped trigger thunderstorms, two of which produced severe winds.
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 Feb 13, 3:39 AM PST, 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 339 AM PST Thu Feb 13 2025 .SYNOPSIS...Shower activity will continue to increase and spread eastward across the forecast area today and tonight, producing widespread valley rain and mountain snow. Gusty south-southwest winds will pick up this morning, but will subside after sunset. The exception will be San Bernardino County where gusty west-southwest winds will persist through Friday. Warm and dry conditions expected over the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...Today and Friday. Today's the day. Light rain showers have already been seen across southern Nevada this morning, with light rain observed at our office as well as at Harry Reid International Airport (but not yet enough to measure!). An atmospheric river poised to bring moisture up and around the Sierra Nevada into the Mojave Desert will bring widespread valley rain and mountain snow to the region - effectively bringing an end to the Las Vegas Dry Streak of 214 days. Snow levels this morning will be fairly low - between 750 and 2000 feet across southeastern Nevada and between 2500 and 3500 across southeastern Nevada, Inyo County, and Mohave County - which may result in brief snow flurries in valley locations around time for the morning commute. Snow is not expected to accumulate in valley locations, as snow levels will rapidly increase to 6000 to 7000 feet. Precipitation rates will increase through the day and will peak overnight, particularly in a stretch from southeastern California through southern Nevada into northwestern Arizona along Interstate 15, then will taper off through the day on Friday. As it tapers off on Friday, we cannot rule out an isolated thunderstorm thanks to the cold pool aloft on the back end of the trough axis. Precipitation amounts continue to give us grief, as there is an increasingly large discrepancy between the NBM and HREF guidance, particularly for the Spring Mountains in Clark County, Nevada. For Lee Canyon, the NBMv4.2 has a best-guess of between 23 and 29 inches; the NBMv5.0 has a best-guess of between 10 and 13 inches; the HREF has a best-guess of between 38 and 64 inches. The latest NBM versions have had minimal precipitation events to compare to, especially considering we've had such a long dry streak, so some modest bias-correcting is occurring. Meanwhile, the HREF is likely weighing the NAM a bit too heavily, which is over-exaggerating orographic lift in our mountains. The snowfall reality is likely in the realm of 12 to 24 inches in the Spring Mountains above 6500 feet and 18 to 36 inches above 8000 feet, with higher amounts at the peaks. Snowfall rates could be as high as 2-3 inches per hour. As such, the Winter Storm Warning for the Spring Mountains has been amended to reflect these amounts. As mentioned in a previous discussion, rainfall amounts for the valleys are looking good, with guidance in fairly good agreement. The only circumstance that would lend to lower-end amounts would be localized downsloping that could inhibit surface-level southwesterly winds, particularly in the Las Vegas and Owens Valleys, where downsloping would favor a westerly wind (and thus, encourage rain shadowing). Despite this, we're forecasting a 95-100% chance of measurable rain in Las Vegas, even if there is some rain shadowing that prevents us from higher-end amounts. No changes have been made to the Winter Storm Warning for the eastern Sierra slopes nor to the Flash Flood Watch for the Owens Valley as these remain in good shape. The Owens Valley is likely to experience localized flash flooding due to overhead rainfall coupled with mountain runoff from both the eastern Sierra slopes and the western White Mountain slopes. In addition to precipitation, gusty southwest winds will impact the region today and Friday with speeds between 15 and 25 mph with gusts to 45 mph. Wind Advisories have been hoisted for much of the forecast area to account for these gusty winds... with the southern Great Basin picking up at 7am this morning... followed by the Mojave Desert around 12pm this afternoon. Winds will die off after sunset with the exception of San Bernardino County, where gusty west- southwest winds will persist overnight and re-enhance Friday afternoon with gusts near 55 mph. This will result in blown away unsecured items as well as increased wave activity on area lakes. .LONG TERM...Saturday through Wednesday. Dry northwesterly flow will be in place across the southern Great Basin and Mojave Desert on Saturday as a ridge of high pressure builds into the area. The dry weather will persist on Sunday with temperatures at or slightly below their seasonal normals which is in the low 60s in the Las Vegas Valley. The next system approaches from the northwest on Monday, and should generally be dry but a showers couldn't be ruled out across then northern portions of Lincoln County. However, behind the system will be some gusty north winds, particularly down the Colorado River Valley with probabilities of reach 40+ mph in the 35-45% range. We'll need to monitor to see if there is the need for a Lake Wind and Wind advisory. Weak systems moving down the front side of a West Coast ridge will generally keep temperatures from moving very much through mid week. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...For the 12Z Forecast Package... Clouds will continue to lower overnight from around 6k feet down to around 5k feet and possibly closer to 3k feet after sunrise. Rain and snow will begin to impact the Spring Mountains around 14z-16z this morning with rain moving into the Las Vegas Valley between 17z- 19z, although a few light showers are possible earlier. Ceilings will drop below 3000 feet and possibly as low as 1000 feet at times, with visibility also reduced in rain and fog. Conditions will improve after 06z Thursday night, but there will be a chance of showers Friday, primarily over the mountains. Winds will generally remain light and variable through the morning, but will increase early afternoon and become southerly around 10 kts. Stronger south winds are expected Thursday evening with some gusts to around 20-25 kts possible. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...For the 12Z Forecast Package...Very poor conditions are expected Thursday, as MVFR to IFR ceilings and visibilities spread over the region from southwest to northeast. Widespread rain and mountain snow can be expected, along with terrain obscuration. CIGS down to around 2-3k feet along with visibilities lowering to less than 3sm are possible at times during the day. Increasing south to southwest winds will be seen across much of region this afternoon with valley locations seeing gusts 20-30 kts and the higher elevations seeing gusts to 40-50 kts. Conditions will improve from northwest to southeast late Thursday evening, but scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm or two are expected to develop Friday, primarily over the mountains. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Soulat LONG TERM...Czyzyk AVIATION...Gorelow For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 176 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:15 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Rainbow Canyon SNOTEL estimated 21 inches of new snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, February 2025
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: 1230351, 1230352, 1230353.