LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — This past weekend, the wind was a story of extremes. A super cold and massive storm originating from the Gulf of Alaska migrated south towards the West Coast and replaced a warm weather trend that produced record highs.
While wind is normal in the desert, especially in March and April when winter turns to spring, this weekend was different.
"This was an exceptional system," John Adair, National Weather Service meteorologist, told me. "The 68 mile-per-hour wind gust is very rare."
That's in reference to the strongest gust clocked at Harry Reid International Airport. The last time a gust was that high was clocked in March 1985.
Here's a look at the top gusts we saw in the area
“In the Owens Valley, there were two big rigs blown over," Adair said. He added the semi trucks were toppled by downslope winds from the Southern Sierra.
Locally, this powerful storm canceled events, damaged property, and produced over 200 unique power outages impacting approximately 35,000 people.
However, it wasn't just the wind.
“Everyone probably heard about various effects from the blizzard around the Tahoe area in the Sierra, to strong winds across southern Nevada, [to] the winds engulfing California, Nevada, Utah," Adair explained.
But why was the wind so significant? It has to do with a stark difference between two weather patterns.
Las Vegas caught right in the middle.
Last week, a ridge of high pressure towards our south produced record February highs and contributed to wildfires. While to our north, this cold system produced record snowfall - over 10 feet in the Sierra Nevada where nearly 200mph winds were clocked at some peaks.
The biggest snowstorm of the season hit California’s Sierra Nevada mountains over the weekend, with some areas reporting more than 10 feet of snow. Palisades Tahoe ski resort reported a wind gust of 190 mph at the summit. pic.twitter.com/zdEowSOGBB
— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2024
Because of this competition between air pressure - cold and warm - high winds were a result of the atmosphere working to balance between the extremes
"We call those gradient winds and it produces widespread, strong winds with this type of system," Adair said.
This comes less than a year after another powerful storm which originated from the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Hillary, also brought high winds to the area with gusts upwards of 75 miles per hour. But here's some comforting news. We aren’t anticipating any more record breaking storms, at least though our next week’s forecast.
