Yet another strong Pacific low pressure system brought high winds to portions of southern Nevada.
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.
Yet another strong Pacific low pressure system brought high winds to portions of southern Nevada.
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 17, 12:45 PM PST, 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 145 PM PDT Mon Mar 17 2025 .SYNOPSIS...A low pressure system will move through the area today and tomorrow, bringing strong winds with it and leaving below-normal temperatures in its wake. Light precipitation chances return to the northern half of the area with minor winter impacts possible in the Sierra, Spring Mountains, and northern Lincoln County. Temperatures moderate in the second half of the week as passing systems bring periods of breezy, cooler conditions. && .SHORT TERM...through Tuesday. An area of low pressure just off the central California coast will continue push east this afternoon before exiting the region Tuesday. Southwest winds ahead of the trough have been increasing so far today and are only expected to get stronger as the afternoon and evening goes on. Most areas are seeing southwest to west winds gusting between 30-40 mph, but by late afternoon and evening we can expect to see winds gusting between 40-50 mph. Wind Advisories are currently in place for much of southern Nevada, the Mojave Desert, and Death Valley National Park. These advisories will remain in place through late tonight or Tuesday morning. Due to the potential for strong downslope winds, High Wind Warnings are currently in effect for the eastern Sierra slopes and Owens Valley were winds gusts to around 60 mph will be possible through this evening. Another area that is under a High Wind Warning is portions of southern Nye County and the Las Vegas Valley where we are expecting to see strong downslope winds develop. The latest hires models along with numerical guidance are showing winds potentially gusting over 60 mph along the northeast and eastern slopes of the Spring Mountains between 6pm and 12am. The latest probabilities indicate about a 70-90% chance of wind gusts over 50 over the western and southwest Las Vegas Valley, including Mountains Edge, Summerlin, and Centennial Hills. The probabilities of gusts over 60 mph currently sits at 30-50% and even around a 10% chance of reaching 70 mph in some of the more favored terrain. Another area of concern would be between Las Vegas and Indian Springs on Highway 95 due to the potential of 60 mph wind gusts and the highway being perpendicular to the flow. Winds across the region will swing to the northwest behind the trough axis late tonight into Tuesday. While these northwesterly winds won't pack quite the punch that the preceding southwesterly winds did, they will still be capable of causing minor-to-moderate impacts. In addition to winds turning to the northwest as the trough axis swings through, we will also see much cooler temperatures behind the trough with temperatures dropping around 8 to 12 degrees from today to tomorrow. In additional to the gusty winds and cooler temperatures, this system will also bring some precipitation to mainly the higher terrain of southern Nevada and Inyo County, as well as the far western Mojave Desert and far northern Mohave County. Precipitable water (PW) will briefly reach 100% to 130% of normal as this system moves through. However, considering that normal PWs for mid-March in Las Vegas are around 0.30", we aren't working with an abundance of moisture. In addition to the lack of moisture, the speed at which this system swings through will be another limiting factor when it comes to precipitation. Snow levels will start out around 7,000 feet as the trough moves into the area and will crash to around 4,000 to 5,000 feet as the trough axis swings through. In the Sierra, we are only expecting minor impacts with 3 to 5 inches of snow between 6000ft and 8,000ft. Areas above 9000 feet could see up to a foot of new snow. For the Spring Mountains, snow accumulations around 2 to 4 inches will be possible for areas above 8,000 feet with generally lighter amounts below. Another area to watch will be northern Lincoln County where some brief heavy snow is possible along and behind the cold front as it swings through overnight. Some of these convecting showers could produce a quick couple of inches for areas generally north of Caliente and quickly reduce visibility in some places, especially places like Panaca Summit. A dusting to an inch of snow will be possible across the southern Great Basin and Arizona Strip with up to two inches possible in the mountain peaks. We could also see a few isolated thunderstorms across central Nye and northern Lincoln County as the front pushes through helping to enhance any showers. .LONG TERM...Wednesday through Sunday. Winds subside across the forecast area on Wednesday as weak ridging builds over the Desert Southwest. Temperatures will look similar to Tuesday afternoon's, despite increased heights, as atmospheric mixing subsides. This weak ridging will be brief, as a shortwave trough is expected to pass through the southern Great Basin Wednesday night through Thursday. The bulk of the moisture associated with this system will stay north of our forecast area, with the Sierra Nevada intercepting any moisture that makes it far enough south. The primary moisture-related impact will be increased cloud cover across the southern Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert. Expect elevated west-southwest winds across the western Mojave Desert and northwest winds across the southwestern Great Basin on Thursday as the trough axis pushes through the region. Gust speeds will range from 25 to 35 mph, with a 10-20% chance of gusts exceeding 40 mph. A Pacific ridge of high pressure will continue to build through the remainder of the forecast period, with the Desert Southwest positioned beneath a dry northwest flow. This will allow temperatures to quickly rebound back to near-normal by late-week and to 5-8 degrees above-normal over the weekend. This pattern is conducive to weak shortwave troughs sliding along the upper-level flow, which could result in occasional afternoon breeziness through the weekend and start of next week. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...For the 18Z Forecast Package...Gusty winds are the primary aviation concern this forecast. Through early this afternoon, south- southwesterly gusts to 20-25KT are expected until around 20-21Z, when winds will veer more to the southwest and increase to 20-25KT sustained with gusts to 30-35KT. High-resolution guidance indicates the period of strongest winds will be from roughly 18/01Z through 18/06Z, when periodic gusts to around 40KT are expected. While there is a 70% probability for gusts at KLAS to exceed 40KT during that window, there is only a 20% probability for gusts to exceed 45KT, so there is moderate to high confidence that gusts will remain within that range. Thereafter, winds will drop off, but remain gusty through the night, ahead of a northwesterly wind shift around 18/12Z. While there is a brief window prior to 12Z for wind gusts to diminish, confidence in this is low, thus have maintained gusty winds through the wind shift, with gusty northwesterly winds then expected through the end of the forecast period. Aside from winds, VFR conditions are expected to prevail, though during the period of strongest southwesterly winds this afternoon and evening, FEW- SCT clouds around 8kft are expected to develop, before skies gradually clear overnight through Tuesday morning. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...For the 18Z Forecast Package...Gusty winds are the main concern the next 24 hours. KHND and KVGT will follow similar trends to KLAS, with gusty southwesterly winds through tonight, shifting to the northwest by Tuesday morning. This wind shift will arrive at KVGT by around 10Z, and at KHND by 15Z, with gusts to 25-35KT at both terminals through the forecast period. KBIH will see gusty southerly winds early this afternoon that will veer to the west as winds downslope off of the Sierra, with gusty westerly winds then continuing through sunset. Winds there will shift to the north-northwest this evening through Tuesday morning, with consistent gusts to 25-30KT. KDAG, unlike other terminals, will see largely unidirectional westerly winds the next 24 hours, with some variability between 250-280. Winds will increase sharply this afternoon into tonight, with gusts to 35-40KT expected through Tuesday morning. Around 15Z, winds are expected to start diminishing, though gusts to around 25KT will persist through 18Z. KEED and KIFP will largely be sheltered from the strongest winds until later this afternoon, when southerly to southwesterly gusts to 20-25KT develop. Gusty winds then persist through the period at KEED, though guidance indicates KIFP will have a lull overnight, with a period of light and variable winds around daybreak. Both KEED and KIFP will see the northwesterly wind shift arrive late in the period, with winds increasing sharply and becoming gusty. Aside from the winds, VFR conditions are expected to prevail, with SCT mid clouds through the period that will gradually clear out toward Tuesday morning. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM...Gorelow LONG TERM...Soulat AVIATION...Phillipson 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.
3 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
These gusts occurred 40 miles E of Beatty.
This gust occurred 1 mile ESE of Red Rock Canyon.
Cottonwood Cove Marina was damaged by strong winds.
These gusts occurred 1 mile NW of Hoover Dam.
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, March 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: 1248761, 1248762, 1248764, 1248765.