Alert archive / Arizona / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 88, NWS Las Vegas, NV

September 5, 1997Mohave County, Arizona; Clark County, Nevada

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 5, 1997, 11:20 PM MST for Mohave County, Arizona; Clark County, Nevada. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Sep 5, 1997, 11:20 PM MST (06:20 UTC)
Expired: Sep 6, 1997, 12:00 AM MST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area: Whole counties

Counties Mohave County, AZ, Clark County, NV

The radar

The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:21 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 5, 11:30 PM MST	Thunderstorm Wind	Overton, NV	Strong winds from a thunderstorm caused minor damage and peeled shingles from the roof of a Park Service facility at Overton Beach on Lake Mead.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 162 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1147 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2636 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAS 060620 RRA
SVRLAS
NVC003-AZC015-050700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1120 PM PDT (1115 PM MST) FRI SEP 5 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS NV HAS ISSUED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1200 AM PDT (1200 AM MST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHWEST ARIZONA

  ...EXTREME NORTHWESTERN MOHAVE COUNTY INCLUDING THE VIRGIN
MOUNTAINS AND LITTLFIELD... 

IN SOUTHERN NEVADA

  ...EXTREME NORTHEASTERN CLARK COUNTY INCLUDING THE OVERTON ARM
OF THE LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA...OVERTON BEACH...
BUNKERVILLE AND MESQUITE...

THIS REPLACES AND EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS WARNING FOR NORTHEAST
CLARK COUNTY NEVADA.

AT 1115 PM PDT (1115 PM MST) LAS VEGAS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
AN INTENSIFYING AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM
OVERTON BEACH IN NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY...NORTHEAST ALONG THE
VIRGIN MOUNTAINS INTO EXTREME NORTHWEST MOHAVE COUNTY ARIZONA.
AT 1110 PM PDT...THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REPORTED A VIOLENT
STORM AT OVERTON BEACH.

THE STORMS CONTINUED TO INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVED NORTHEAST AT 15
MPH. 

BE AWARE OF THE DANGER OF LOCAL FLOODING CAUSED BY THUNDERSTORM
RAINS.  IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS OR APPROACHES YOUR
LOCATION...SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING AND STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

NEMETH

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 Sep 5, 8:21 PM MST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 8:21 PM MST, 2 hours 59 minutes before

MOJAVE DESERT/SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
820 PM PDT FRI SEP 5 1997

00Z UA CHARTS AND WV STLT LOOPS IDENTIFY S/WV TROF MOVG INTO WEST
CENTRAL NV WITH 3H-2H JET STREAK OF 60 KTS EXTENDING FRM CNTRL CA
INTO S-CNTRL NV.  PLENTY OF AVAILABLE CAPE AND LOW LVL MSTR ACRS
SRN NV/SERN CA AND NWRN AZ WITH 8H 10-12 DEGREE DEWPOINT AXIS
EXTENDING FRM GULF OF CA NWD INTO SRN NV.  TSTMS ACRS NRN
NYE/LINCOLN COUNTIES APPEAR TO HAVE DVLPD IN DIVERGENCE AREA IN
NOSE OF JET STREAK.  IN DEEPER MSTR TO THE S...SW-NE ORIENTED BANDS
OF CONVECTION CONT TO FIRE ACRS SRN NV/SERN CA IN AREAS LIKELY
AIDED BY UPR DIVERGENCE FRM JET STREAK.  FINALLY...LRG CLUSTERS OF
TSTMS MERGING ACRS WRN AND SWRN AZ...ESPECIALLY YUMA/PIMA AND
YAVAPAI COUNTIES.

WILL BE UPDATING ALL ZONES TO ACCOUNT FOR CURRENT CONVECTIVE
TRENDS. IN ADDITION...WITH PLENTY OF LOW LVL MSTR AND UPWARD MOTION
FRM JET STREAK CONTG INTO THE NIGHT...WILL CONT A LEAST A SLGT CHC
OR ISOLD MENTION OF TSTMS ALL ZONES AS TSTMS COULD FIRE
ANYTIME/ANYWHERE IN THIS SITUATION. REMAINDER OF FCST UNCHGD.
LAS 1121.

NEMETH

SRN NV...NONE
ERN CA...NONE
NW AZ ...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 5:21 PM MST, 5 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NEVADA
521 PM PDT FRI SEP 05 1997

TIME(PDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0328 PM    TONOPAH ARPT              NV   60 MPH TSTM GUST
09/05/97   NYE                            52 KNOT GUST RECORDED BY
                                          TONOPAH WEATHER OBSERVER

0610 PM    BAKER                     CA   60 MPH TSTM GUST
09/05/97   SAN BERNARDINO                 A WEATHER SPOTTER
                                          ESTIMATED A THUNDERSTORM
                                          GUST OF 60 MPH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 5, 10:23 PM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	VEF	Clark	52 min
Sep 6, 12:37 AM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	VEF	Clark	58 min
Sep 6, 2:11 AM MST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	VEF	Lincoln	59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Arizona, 1997 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nevada, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.