Alert archive / Nevada / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Las Vegas, NV

November 5, 1987Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 5, 1987, 11:17 AM PST for Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 118 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Nov 5, 1987, 11:17 AM PST (19:17 UTC)
Expired
Nov 5, 1987, 1:15 PM PST
In force
118 min
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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Nov 5, 12:30 PM PSTHail 1Clark, NV

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 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 1987-11-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 225 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 1987-11-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
225 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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

Local storm report, Nov 5, 9:10 AM PST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
908 AM PST THU NOV 05 1987

TIME            EVENT
0845 AM PST     T+RW+ WITH GUSTS TO 59 KNOTS AT MCCARRAN AIRPORT

0900 AM PST     SPOTTER IN LAS VEGAS4...REPORTS 3/4 INCH HAIL AND HEAVY
                RAIN AT JONES AND EXPRESSWAY IN LAS VEGAS NV.
Local storm report, Nov 5, 9:23 AM PST, 1 hour 54 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
920 AM PST THU NOV 05 1987

TIME            EVENT
0845 AM PST     T+RW+ WITH GUSTS TO 59 KNOTS AT MCCARRAN AIRPORT

0900 AM PST     SPOTTER IN LAS VEGAS...REPORTS 3/4 INCH HAIL AND HEAVY
                RAIN AT JONES AND EXPRESSWAY IN LAS VEGAS NV.

0915 AM PST     SPOTTER REPORTS .52 OF RAIN PAST 10 MINUTES/MOTH BALL
                SIZE HAIL APPROX 15 MILES N OF LAS
                SPOTTER REPOGRTS INCH SIZE HAIL GUSTS TO 45 KTS R+
                APROX 13 NW OF LAS
Local storm report, Nov 5, 10:06 AM PST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
1002 AM PST THU NOV 05 1987

TIME            EVENT
0845 AM PST     T+RW+ WITH GUSTS TO 59 KNOTS AT MCCARRAN AIRPORT

0900 AM PST     SPOTTER IN LAS VEGAS...REPORTS 3/4 INCH HAIL AND HEAVY
                RAIN AT JONES AND EXPRESSWAY IN LAS VEGAS NV.

0915 AM PST     SPOTTER REPORTS .52 OF RAIN PAST 10 MINUTES/MOTH BALL
                SIZE HAIL APPROX 15 MILES N OF LAS
                SPOTTER REPORTS INCH SIZE HAIL GUSTS TO 45 KTS R+
                APROX 13 NW OF LAS

1001 AM PST     METRO POLICE IN LAS VEGAS REPORTS THAT STREET FLOODING
                WAS WIDESPREAD THROUGHOUT LAS VEGAS.  WATER WAS OVER-
                FLOWING FROM THyE 21ST WASH.  2 FOOT WALL OF WATER WAS
                EXPERIENCED AT JONES AND XPWY. MANY ROADWAY HAD 2 FT
                OF WATER.  IMPERIAL PALACE ON THE STRIP REPORTED
                FLOODING.
Local storm report, Nov 5, 10:52 AM PST, 25 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
1051 AM PST THU NOV 05 1987

TIME            EVENT
1040 AM PST     SPOTTER AT RED ROCK CANYON...18 W OF LAS REPORTS PEA
                SIZE HAIL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Las Vegas, NV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 5, 2:23 AM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFClark67 min
Nov 5, 8:47 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningVEFClark58 min
Nov 5, 8:47 AM PSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFClark58 min
Nov 5, 11:17 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningVEFClark118 min
Nov 5, 11:35 AM PSTFlash Flood WarningVEFInyo3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nevada, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

Sources

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