Alert archive / Nevada / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 29, 1988Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 29, 1988, 7:03 PM PDT for Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 117 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 1988, 7:03 PM PDT (02:03 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1988, 9:00 PM PDT
In force
117 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 133 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3180 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAS 300204
FFWLAS
AZC015-NVC003-300400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
703 PM PDT MON AUG 29 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM PDT
AND A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA
          ...MOHAVE
IN SOUTH NEVADA
          ...CLARK
 
AT 7 PM PDT THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE REPORTED 60 MPH WINDS AT ECHO
BAY AND AN INCH OF RAIN AT OVERTON BEACH. THE STORM IS MOVING INTO THE
LAS VEGAS AREA CAUSING WIDE-SPREAD AREAS OF BLOWING DUST.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE3 WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
JBL/0205Z

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 29, 1:18 PM PDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
117 PM PDT MON AUG 29 1988

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA...

LAS VEGAS RADAR SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING
TO DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA.
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE THROUGH THIS
AFTERNOON.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PEOPLE ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WITH THESE STORMS. IF YOU
ARE OUTSIDE AND A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.
USE EXTRA CAUTION WHILE DRIVING THROUGH HEAVIER SHOWERS...AND AVOID
FLOODED DIPS IN THE ROADWAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TV OR RADIO FOR LATER
STATMENTS.
CHS/2018Z
Special weather statement, Aug 29, 4:27 PM PDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
426 PM PDT MON AUG 29 1988

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA...

LAS VEGAS RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND
DESERTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHWEST
ARIZONA.  LIGHTNING DETECTION DATA INDICATED THAT THE MOST ACTIVE STORM
WAS SOUTH OF SANDY VALLEY IN THE MOUNTAIN PASS CALIFORNIA AREA ON I-15.
LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED ON THE STORMS.  THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL
GRADUALLY INCREASE THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PEOPLE ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION WITH THESE STORMS. IF YOU ARE
OUTSIDE AND A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.  USE EXTRA
CAUTION WHILE DRIVING THROUGH HEAVIER SHOWERS...AND DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH
FLOODED SECTIONS OF ROADWAYS.  BOATERS ON LAKE MEAD AND LAKE MOHAVE NEED
TO BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS WITH THESE STORMS SINCE A BOAT...AND THE
PEOPLE IN THEM...MAKE EXCELLENT LIGHTNING RODS.

LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS ON THIS SITUATION.
JBL/2328Z

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 7:03 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFClark57 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Nevada, 1988Every flash flood warning in 1988

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.