Alert archive / Nevada / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 8, 1989Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 8, 1989, 4:47 AM PDT for Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 103 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 1989, 4:47 AM PDT (11:47 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1989, 6:30 AM PDT
In force
103 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, 11.8 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 00:00Z on 1989-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 90 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 1989-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 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
90 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KRNO 081148
FFWLAS
NVC003-081330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NEVADA
ISSUED BY RENO NV
447 AM PDT TUE AUG 8 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 AM PDT
AND A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 AM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH NEVADA
          ...SOUTHERN CLARK
 
AT 430 AM A THUNDERSTORM WERE OBSERVED IN THE LAS VEGAS AREA...
ACCOMPANIED BY LOCAL STREET FLOODING AND WIND GUSTS TO OVER 40 MILES
PER HOUR.  FREQUENT LIGHTNING WAS ALSO REPORTED IN THE AREA. THE
STORMS ARE MOVING SLOWLY NORTH AND ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE
WARNING AREA UNTIL 530 AM. WIND GUSTS TO 60 MILES PER HOUR ARE
POSSIBLE AND MORE FLOODING AROUND THE LAS VEGAS AREA IS LIKELY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE THREATENED AREA..STAY ALERT TO CHANGING CONDITIONS
AND BE READY TO MOVE TO A REINFORCED SHELTER.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PROCUDE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL..HEAVY RAIN..AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING.
 
BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE FLOODING. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING..DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY. DO NOT STAND BY
WINDOWS.
 
CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND
WARNINGS. WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO..RELAY REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER
TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

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 8, 2:32 AM PDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
232 AM PDT TUE AUG 08 1989

    ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EXTREME SOUTHERN NEVADA...

AT 215 AM THE WEATHER RADAR AT LAS VEGAS NEVADA INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS
ARE DEVELOPING IN THE LAUGHLIN AND BULLHEAD CITY AREAS WITH THE MOST
INTENSE THUNDERSTORM ALONG HIGHWAY 95...WEST OF DAVIS DAM.

MOTORISTS DRIVING HIGHWAY 95 IN EXTREME SOUTHERN NEVADA SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG WINDS AND FLOODED HIGHWAY DIPS.

HCB/0930Z
Special weather statement, Aug 8, 3:48 AM PDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
341 AM PDT TUE AUG 08 1989

    ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EXTREME SOUTHERN NEVADA...

AT 330 AM THE WEATHER RADAR AT LAS VEGAS NEVADA INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE DEVELOPED IN EXTREME SOUTHERN NEVADA INCLUDING LAS VEGAS. THE MOST
INTENSE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS OVER THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALIZED HEAVY SHOWERS...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH ALONG WITH BLOWING DUST.

MOTORISTISTS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL THIS MORNING FOR POSSIBLE
FLOODING AND DONT CROSS FLOODED DIPS.

LISTEN TO WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION...FOR ANY
FURTHER STATEMENTS.
HCB/1048Z5

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 4:47 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFClark103 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Nevada, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.