Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 9, 1996Mohave County, Arizona; San Bernardino County, California

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 9, 1996, 6:46 PM MST for Mohave County, Arizona; San Bernardino County, California. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1996, 6:46 PM MST (01:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1996, 7:30 PM MST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mohave County, AZ, San Bernardino County, CA

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1996-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 210 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
210 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 100152
SVRLAS
AZC015-CAC071-100230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
646 PM PDT (646 PM MST) FRI AUG 9 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM PDT (730 PM MST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA
 
   ...EXTREME WESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY
      INCLUDING LAKE HAVASU CITY
 
IN EASTERN CALIFORNIA
 
   ...EXTREME EASTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
      INCLUDING NEEDLES
 
THIS REPLACES THE WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHWEST MOHAVE COUNTY
 
AT 645 PM PDT/MST...LAS VEGAS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME WESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY AZ...MOVING
SOUTHWEST AT 10-15 MPH.  DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY AS THESE STORMS
MOVE THROUGH NEEDLES CA AND LAKE HAVASU AZ WITHIN THE NEXT 15-30
MINUTES.
 
A WEATHER SPOTTER AT YUCCA ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS OF 40-50 MPH AS THE
STORMS MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA AROUND 635 PM PDT/MST.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 57 MPH...
DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAIN.  WIND DRIVEN DUST MAY REDUCE
VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES.  IF THREATENING WEATHER A PPROACHES
MOVE TO SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
 
RUNK

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.

NWS Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 9, 1:48 PM MST, 4 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 1:48 PM MST, 4 hours 58 minutes before
MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
200 PM PDT FRI AUG 9 1996

STORMS OVR ZONE 8 ALREADY SHOWING SIGNS OF WEAKENING ACRS THE N
IN DRY MORE STABLE NLY FLOW.  IN SRN PTN OF ZONE 8 SOME STORMS
ARE CONTG BUT NOT INCREASING.  STRONGER STORMS INDICATED OVR SW
UT AND CNTRL AZ.  STORMS JUST BEGINNING TO FORM OVR NW AZ.  WL
KEEP WIDELY SCT TSTMS OVR MOST OF SRN NV/NW AZ TNGT WITH A LITTLE
MORE COVERAGE IN DEEPER MSTR ACRS ZONE 3 IN AZ.  UPR HI STILL
SEEMS TO BE OVR NRN LINCOLN COUNTY BUT CU FIELD INDICATES THE H7
HI IS OVR WCNTRL NV.  LAS 88D SHOWS NLY FLOW IN LOWEST 10K BUT
RAMSDIS SHOWS HYR CLOUD ELEMENTS MOVG WWD ACRS CLARK COUNTY.

ETA PROBABLY HAS BEST ANALYSIS THIS MRNG WITH WK VORT OVR SRN AZ
AND GENERALLY USED AS GUIDANCE.  ALL MODELS THOUGH SHOW LOW LVL
MSTR INC ACRS SRN MOHAVE COUNTY AND EXTREME SRN CLARK COUNTY THE
NXT 24HRS.  H8 THETA-E RDG QUITE PREVALENT OVR THIS AREA TMW AFTN
AND EVEN INTO SUN.  UPR FLOW INITIALLY GOES NE BUT EVENTUALLY
TURNS SE AGAIN LATE IN THE WKND.  MSTR TO INC OVR EXTREME S AND
ALSO ACRS ERN CA AND EXTREME WRN NV TMW INTO SUNDAY.  AS HI SHIFTS
BACK TO 4-CORNERS SUN INTO MON MSTR SHD INC AGAIN FARTHER EWD
THRU ALL OF CLARK AND LINCOLN COUNTY.  WL HIT SRN MOHAVE HARDEST
NXT 2 DAYS BUT OTHER AREAS STILL SUSCEPTIBLE TO HIGH BASED
CONVECTION AND STRONG WIND GUSTS.  SRN TIP OF NV WL ALSO HAVE TO
BE WATCHED FOR STRONGER STORMS.  MONSOOTN CONTS INTO EXTENDED PD
AND WIDELY SCT POPS FOR LOWER ELE AND SCT MTNS LUKS GOOD.
LAS 1122.  SKRBAC

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 9, 2:58 PM MST, 3 hours 48 minutes before
NVZ008-009-AZZ001>003-100000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
258 PM PDT (258 PM MST) FRI AUG 9 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA AND
NORTHWEST ARIZONA...

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF
LINCOLN AND CLARK COUNTIES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA AND MOHAVE COUNTY
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA.  THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY
WINDS BUT LITTLE RAINFALL.  AROUND 235 PM PDT...PIPE SPRINGS
NATIONAL MONUMENT IN EXTREME NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY OF ARIZONA
ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH WHEN ONE OF THESE STORMS PASSED BY.

ANY THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GU6STY WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING
INTO THIS EVENING.  PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP WATCH ON THE WEATHER AND
TAKE SHELTER IF A STORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA.

PHS
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 4:53 PM MST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
AZZ001>003-100200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
455 PM PDT/MST FRI AUG 9 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...

AT 455 PM PDT/MST....LAS VEGAS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED WIDELY
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER SECTIONS OF MOHAVE COUNTY
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
HIGHWAY 93 IN THE VICINITY OF CHLORIDE...ABOUT 18 MILES NORTHWEST
OF KINGMAN.  OTHER STRONG STORMS WERE ORIENTED IN A LINE FROM
11 MILES NORTHEAST OF KINGMAN TO BAGDAD IN WESTERN YAVAPAI COUNTY.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH AND WERE PRODUCING
VERY LITTLE RAIN BUT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  VISIBILITY MAY BRIEFLY BE REDUCED TO
NEAR ZERO IN BLOWING DUST AND SUDDEN WIND GUSTS MAY MAKE IT DIFFICULT
TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY
AND MOVE TOr SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.

RUNK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 5:45 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFMohave60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1996Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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.