Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 12, 1996Mohave County, Arizona

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 12, 1996, 3:01 PM MST for Mohave County, Arizona. It was in force for 59 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 12, 1996, 3:01 PM MST (22:01 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1996, 4:00 PM MST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Whole counties

County Mohave County, AZ

The nearest sounding before it

Flgstf/Belemont, AZ (KFGZ), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 89 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, Flgstf/Belemont, AZ at 12:00Z on 1996-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -67 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
89 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-128 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2377 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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 122202
SVRLAS
AZC015-122300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
301 PM PDT (301 PM MST) MON AUG 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM PDT (400 PM MST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL MOHAVE COUNTY
      INCLUDING THE CITY OF KINGMAN
 
AT 257 PM MST...LAS VEGAS DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6
MILES EAST OF KINGMAN. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY8 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 WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 12, 2:51 PM MST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 2:51 PM MST, 10 minutes before
MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
250 PM PDT MON AUG 12 1996

STLT/88D  DETECTING WDLY  SCT SHWRS/TSTMS  ACRS CWA  THIS AFTN.   SVR
THREAT FRM TSTMS WILL BE STG/GUSTY WNDS AS IGM OBSVD PK WND TO 43 KTS
(50 MPH)  WITHIN PAST HLF  HR.  MDLS SIMILAR  WITH POSITION OF  H5 HI
CNTR  NR FOUR CORNERS THRU MIDWEEK.   WV LOOP SHWS MSTR BECMG CUT OFF
ACRS NRN  MEX SO BASICALLY WILL WORK WITH MSTR IN PLACE ROTATING ANRD
HI.   WITH THIS THINKING  WILL CONT THREAT  OF FEW/WDLY SCT AFTN/EVNG
SHWRS/TSTMS ACRS FA...BY MIDWEEK  MOST ACTIVITY SHUD BE NEAR  OR ALNG
MTNS.  HGTS/THKN  ABV NRML UNDR STG  RDG SO TEMPS  WILL BE ABV  NRML.
FOR THE  XTNDD RDG AXIS BECMG  ORIENTATED SW-NE AS TROF  SETS UP ALNG
PAC NW CST FOR DRIER SWLY FLO ON FRI/SAT. ENUF MSTR  LEFT THU YET FOR
SLGT CHC OF TSTMS.  LTL CHG IN TEMPS AS HGTS CONT ABV NRML.  LAS 1---
.  PIERCE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 12, 2:43 PM MST, 18 minutes before
NVZ009-008-AZZ001-002-003-CAZ019-130245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
241 PM PDT (241 PM MST) MON AUG 12 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHWEST ARIZONA EXTENDING
NORTHWEST INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA...

AT 230 PM...LAS VEGAS RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
OVER NORTHWEST ARIZONA...EXTREME SOUTHERN NEVADA AND EASTERN
CALIFORNIA.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED IN THE VICINITY OF
KINGMAN ARIZONA AND ALONG THE SPRING MOUNTAINS IN EXTREME SOUTHERN
NEVADA.  A WEATHER SPOTTER IN KINGMAN AND THE KINGMAN AIRPORT BOTH
REPORTED WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH WITH BLOWING DUST REDUCING VISIBILITY
TO UNDER A HALF MILE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

THUNDERTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF
THE AREA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND
GUSTS TO NEAR 55 MPH REDUCING VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES.
IN ADDITION BREIF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN
ALSO BE EXPECTED.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AFTER
SUNSET.

KOSIER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:50 PM MSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFMohave55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 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.