A strong winter low pressure system brought heavy snow to the high terrain in Inyo County and high winds to areas of San Bernardino County.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
A strong winter low pressure system brought heavy snow to the high terrain in Inyo County and high winds to areas of San Bernardino County.
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 16, 9:53 AM PST, 7 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 953 AM PST Mon Feb 16 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... * A strong weather system will bring widespread precipitation, heavy mountain snow, and gusty winds to the region today. * The weather pattern will remain active with a second, colder system moving through the region Tuesday into Wednesday, bringing additional rain and snow chances. * Drier conditions will return over the weekend with temperatures trending closer to normal by Sunday. && .DISCUSSION...through Sunday. This mornings satellite imagery depicts a well organized 540dm low west of the San Fransisco Bay area that will slowly make its way inland today. As it does so, widespread rain and high elevation snow remain expected, along with increasingly gusty southerly winds. Overall, the expectations with this first wave haven't changed much. Precipitation will first begin this morning in the Sierra in the form of snow, before rain and high elevation snow spreads east across the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin during the afternoon and evening hours. One notable trend in model guidance are hints at a Narrow Cold Frontal Rainband (NCFR) developing this afternoon and evening as the precip band pushes across southern Nevada, that may result in locally strong wind gusts (45-55 mph) as it moves through the region. A fairly sharp back edge of the precipitation shield is expected with precip tapering off from west to east during the evening and overnight hours. In addition to the winds and rain, higher elevation snowfall will be of concern, with snow levels initially between 6,000 and 7,000 feet and falling overnight to near 5000 feet. The Sierra certainly will see very heavy totals measured in feet, while the Spring Mountains near Lee and Kyle Canyon may see very intense snowfall rates for a few hours this evening, with quick accumulations of 6-12 inches possible, largely falling in less than 12 hours. After brief lull on Tuesday morning, the next wave will drop south into the region bringing renewed precip potential. This second wave is quite cold, and will send snow levels crashing by Wednesday morning. Snow accumulations Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning of 3-6 inches are looking increasingly promising in the Owens Valley and a Winter Storm Watch has been issued for that area, with mainly the northern Owens Valley at risk for heavier totals. NBM probabilities of snow totals of 3 inches of greater are near 60% for Bishop, with REFS probabilities closer to 90 percent. Further east, another round of heavy snow is expected in the Spring Mountains, with 6-12 inch totals likely. Some accumulations of snow are also possible at lower elevation summits including Mountain Springs and Mountain Pass. With the magnitude of cold air moving in, some snowflakes are certainly possible in the Vegas Valley Wednesday morning. An additional weak impulse may move through on Thursday with modest precip chances before ridging attempts to rebuild across the southwest over the weekend allowing for at least a short duration break in the action. Temperatures will be cooler than normal for most of the week but will return to near average by Sunday. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...For the 18Z Forecast Package...A challenging aviation forecast, with deteriorating flight conditions expected through late this evening. Winds will become elevated and gusty out of the south early in the period, with gusts to around 20KT increasing to around 30KT through 17/00Z. Coincidentally, ceilings will gradually lower, becoming SCT- BKN between 5-8kft this afternoon, with mountain snow and Valley rain overspreading the area mid afternoon through this evening. An enhanced band of showers is expected just after 00Z, accompanied by a southwesterly wind shift and gusts increasing to 40-45KT into the overnight hours. The band of showers will produce brief reductions in ceilings and visibility, though there is some uncertainty regarding the magnitude of these reductions. Improvement is expected late evening as the band moves east and showers dissipate. Winds remain elevated/gusty out of the southwest thereafter with gusts to 25-35KT common, and ceilings in the Valley slowly improving to around 10-15kft. Terrain obscuration is expected, with mountain snows persisting. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...For the 18Z Forecast Package...Deteriorating flight conditions are expected across the region through tonight, with terrain obscuration expected due to high elevation moderate to heavy snow, and lower elevation rains that will spread across the area this afternoon through late evening. Ceilings will gradually fall to around 5-8kft, with southerly to southeasterly winds ramping up early in the period and gusting to around 20-30KT before shifting to the southwest late afternoon into tonight, with gusts increasing to around 35KT for most, stronger gusts to around 40-45KT expected across southern Nevada and into northwestern Arizona during the evening as an enhanced band of showers moves eastward, accompanied by brief further reductions in ceilings and visibility. Conditions will gradually improve from west to east overnight as showers drift east and ceilings improve in their wake. Winds this evening onward will generally remain southwesterly for all but the Owens and Colorado River Valleys, where southeasterly winds will be the rule, with at least intermittent gusts to 20-30KT expected through the end of the forecast period. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION... 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.
2 heavy snow, 2 high wind, 1 avalanche, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
An extended period of heavy snow from a winter storm system brought snowfall totals of 28 to 49 inches to SNOTELs in the Eastern Sierra Mountains.
A trained spotter in Aspendell at 8500 feet reported 58 inches of storm total snow.
NWS received multiple reports on social media with photos of six to six and a half inches of snow in Bishop.
Several mesonet sites gusted over 58mph during the event.
Four inches of new snow prompted the closing of Interstate 15 at Mountain Pass for several hours.
A gust of 60mph was recorded at the Daggett-Barstow airport (KDAG).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2026
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: 1320714, 1320716, 1320724, 1320727, 1320725, 1320726.