Alert archive / Nevada / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 11, 1989Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 11, 1989, 6:13 AM PDT for Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 115 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 11, 1989, 6:13 AM PDT (13:13 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 1989, 8:08 AM PDT
In force
115 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 12:00Z, 1.2 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 1989-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 102 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1989-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -72 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
102 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-234 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1355 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAS 111313
FFWLAS
NVC003-AZC015-111615-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
713 AM MDT FRI AUG 11 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EXTREME SOUTH PART OF NEVADA
      SOUTHERN CLARK...

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF ARIZONA
      EXTREME NORTHWEST MOHAVE...

AT 6 AM HEAVY RAINS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE LAKE MEAD AREA WITH
LOCAL FLOODING AT WILLOW BEACH..CALLVILLE BAY..LAS VEGAS WASH..AND
BOULDER BEACH.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT.
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WFHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.
VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED IMMEDIATELY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

 SMITH

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 11, 4:19 AM PDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
418 AM PDT FRI AUG 11 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA...

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF CLARK AND SOUTHERN NYE
COUNTIES.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AROUND 15
MILES AN HOUR.

STRONG WINDS WITH POSSIBLE GUST TO 50 MILES AN HOUR CAN BE ASSOCIATED
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA TODAY SHOULD USE
USE CAUTION AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY.  BOATERS ON LAKE MEAD AND LAKE
MOHAVE ARE REMINDED THAT A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LAKES
FOR STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH WATERS SHOULD ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
REACH THE ALES AREA.

LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE
LATEST FORECASTS OR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS.
SMITH/1118Z
Special weather statement, Aug 11, 6:02 AM PDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS, NV
601 AM PDT FRI AUG 11 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA...

LAS VEGAS RADAR AND LIGHTING DETECTION EQUITMENT SHOW THUNDERSTORMS
COVERING MUCH OF CLARK COUNTY.  THIS ACTIVITY IS MOVING TO THE EAST
AND HAS SPREAD INTO NORTHWEST ARIZONA.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS TO 50
MILES AN HOUR...DEADLY LIGHTING AND SMALL HAIL.

PERSONS PLANNING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA TODAY SHOULD USE
USE CAUTION AND KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY.  BOATERS ON LAKE MEAD AND LAKE
MOHAVE ARE REMINDED THAT A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE LAKES
FOR STRONG WINDS AND ROUGH WATERS SHOULD ANY: OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
REACH THE ALES AREA.

LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE
LASTEST FORECASTS OR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS.
SMITH/1301Z

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.