Alert archive / Nevada / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 21, 1986Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1986, 2:50 PM PDT for Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 21, 1986, 2:50 PM PDT (21:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1986, 5:00 PM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Whole counties

County Clark County, NV

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 99 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Mercury/Desert R, NV at 12:00Z on 1986-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 83 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Mercury/Desert R, NV at 12:00Z on 1986-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
83 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-249 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2279 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KLAS 212204 COR
SVRLAS
NVC003-220000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERES THUNDERSTORMS WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
250 PM PDT THU AUG 21 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVER THUNDERSTORMS WARNING E
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NEVADA...SOUTHEAST CLARK

AT 245 PM WEATHER RADAR AT LAS VEGAS SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
LOCATED 27 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAS VEGAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THE THUNDERSTORM ARE URGED TO SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY. THUNDERSTORMS CAN..AND LIKELY WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY
WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..HEAVY RAIN AND AREAS OF BLOWING DUST THAT
WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO. BOATERS ON LAKE MEAD AND LAKE
MOHAVE SHOULD TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS IMMEDIATELY.
.
CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR
WARNINGS.

WHEN YOUR ARE SURE IT IS SAFE TO DO SO..RELAY REPORTS OF SEVERE
WEATHERF TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

GRT/2155Z

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 21, 2:00 PM PDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
200 PM PDT THU AUG 21 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHERN NEVADA AGAIN TODAY...

AT 200 PM WEATHER RADAR AT LAS VEGAS SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDER-
STORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOPE THROUGHOUT LINCOLN AND CLARK COUNTIES OF
NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
ALONG U.S. 93 25 MILES SOUTH OF ALAMO AND 20 MILES EAST OF CALIENTE
CLOSE TO THE UTAH BORDER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 20 MPH.

MOIST TROPICAL AIR REMAINS OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA AND AS THE MAXIMUM
AFTERNOON HEATING TIME APPROACHES THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED
TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN..AND LIKELY WILL..PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS..
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..HEAVY RAIN..AND AREA OF BLOWING DUST THAT REDUCE
VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO IN PLACES.
.
PERSONS IN SOUTHERN NEVADA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDIT
IONS. DRIVERS APPROACHING AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN..
ESPECTALLY DRIVERS OF HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION.
LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL RADIO..TELEVISION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER FORECAST AND STATEMENTS.
GRT/2100Z

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nevada, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.