Gusts of 60 to 70 mph could down power lines across parts of southern Nevada on Sunday

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has posted a High Wind Warning for Sunday, October 11, 2026, with south winds of 35 to 45 mph and gusts of 60 to 70 mph from 5 AM to 8 PM PDT. The product warns that the wind will blow down trees and power lines and could cause widespread power outages. The 60 to 70 mph gusts are forecast for northeast and southern Clark County, Nevada, and for parts of northwest Arizona and southeast California, not for the whole of southern Nevada.

The warning zones for 60 to 70 mph gusts

Two High Wind Warnings were in the bulletin the office issued at 1:58 PM PDT on Saturday, October 10. The stronger one covers the Northwest Plateau, Lake Havasu and Fort Mohave, Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, the Hualapai Mountains, the Northwest Deserts, San Bernardino County, the Upper Colorado River Valley, and northeast and southern Clark County, along with the Sheep Range, the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon. Kingman, Needles, Laughlin, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Mesquite, Primm and Mt. Charleston are named.

The text of the alert was relayed by KESQ’s alert feed from a 12:36 PM PDT issuance, and the full bulletin is on the NWS Las Vegas watches, warnings and advisories page. Its wording on impact is blunt: damaging winds that can blow down trees and power lines, widespread outages, and difficult travel, especially for high-profile vehicles.

Lincoln County and the Las Vegas Valley

The second warning is for Lincoln County, Nevada, including Panaca, Caliente, Pioche, Alamo, Rachel and Hiko, over the same 5 AM to 8 PM window on Sunday. Its forecast is lower: south winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph.

The Las Vegas Valley is under a different, lower-tier product. A Wind Advisory covers the Las Vegas Valley, Henderson, North Las Vegas, the Western and Eastern Mojave Desert, the Morongo Basin and the Cadiz Basin, running from 2 AM Sunday to 5 AM PDT Monday with south winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of 45 to 55 mph. A second Wind Advisory spans Death Valley National Park, Pahrump, Beatty, Goldfield and Indian Springs, with gusts up to 55 mph. For a Las Vegas resident, then, the 60 to 70 mph gusts are a forecast for the mountains, lakes and desert communities around the valley, while the city itself is expected to see gusts closer to 45 to 55 mph.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel behind the wind

The cause is laid out in the office’s forecast discussion, issued at 9:54 PM PDT on Friday, October 9: an incoming trough from the northwest was forecast to interact with the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel, which would phase with a cutoff low and be pulled into the Southwest. The same discussion expected a dry slot over western Arizona on Sunday, which can let strong upper-level winds mix down to the surface, and warned that high-resolution guidance suggested stronger winds than the 45 to 55 mph gusts it then carried.

Rain is the other half of the forecast. The NWS Las Vegas homepage, showing hazards as of 8:08 PM PDT on Saturday, listed a High Wind Warning, a Wind Advisory and a Flood Watch together, and described Flood Watches across much of the region from Saturday afternoon and evening through early Monday morning, with several instances of flash flooding possible, localized rainfall above 1 inch and an Excessive Rain Outlook for Sunday. Multiple rounds of storms were expected across southern Nevada, southeastern California and northwestern Arizona, which means the wind and the rain overlap across the same corridor. Rachel’s remnant circulation was named as the source of the heavy rain, the flash flood risk and the gusty southerly winds, with the flood threat rising as a low-pressure system followed the remnants through early Sunday morning.

On wind, the same page described widespread gusts of 45 to 55 mph with 60 to 65 mph across higher terrain, passes and downslope areas, mainly in southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. It also forecast crosswinds and blowing dust, especially before rain begins.

The Friday night point forecast for the Las Vegas Valley, issued at 11:58 PM PDT, carried only a Wind Advisory and gusts as high as 37 mph for Sunday. That forecast predates the warning upgrade and shows how far the expected wind speeds rose over about a day.

No cancellation or extension of the High Wind Warning beyond 8 PM Sunday appeared in the 1:58 PM bulletin or on the 8:08 PM homepage. The warning window as published remains 5 AM to 8 PM PDT on October 11.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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