Multiple Severe Microbursts in the Las Vegas Valley and Impact-Based Decision Support Services Provided by NWS Las Vegas, NV during the Monsoon Season of 2018

Severe microburst winds in excess of 30 ms-1 were observed on consecutive days in July 2018 in the Las Vegas Valley each producing significant damage including dozens of downed power poles, hundreds of downed trees, and other types of property damage. The first microburst event occurred during the evening of 19 July 2018, most notably downing 31 power poles along the Boulder Highway in Henderson, NV. The severe microburst winds were immediately followed by severe outflow winds originating from earlier convection that moved into the valley from the northeast. The second event occurred the following evening, 20 July 2018, primarily impacting the southern portions of the Las Vegas Valley, with the most of the damage occurring in the Seven Hills and Green Valley neighborhoods of Henderson, NV. These severe microbursts were followed by a dust storm during the morning hours of 21 July 2018 that formed over northwest Arizona and then moved into the southern portions of the Las Vegas Valley. This presentation will briefly cover the details of each of these events and discuss the variety of Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) that were provided prior to, during, and following these severe weather events. The IDSS in particular, included frequent communications with emergency management and other core partners as recovery efforts from the initial microburst along Boulder Highway continued throughout the subsequent weather events.