Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 25, 1998San Bernardino County, California

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this tornado warning at Aug 25, 1998, 11:33 AM PDT for San Bernardino County, California. It was in force for 62 min. 2 reports 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
Aug 25, 1998, 11:33 AM PDT (18:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 1998, 12:35 PM PDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Whole counties

County San Bernardino County, CA

The radar

The Edwards AFB radar (KEYX), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:32 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 25, 12:20 PM PDTTornado F0Nipton, CA
Aug 25, 12:30 PM PDTThunderstorm WindNipton, CA

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 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 1998-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 230 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1998-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
230 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2446 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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.

655 
WFUS1 KLAS 251835 RRA
TORLAS
CAC071-251935-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1133 AM PDT TUE AUG 25 1998


*  TORNADO WARNING FOR
   NORTHEASTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA

*  UNTIL 1235 PM PDT

*  SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNED AREA INCLUDE:
   INTERSTATE 15 EAST NEAR NIPTON ROAD
   WHEATON SPRINGS (AT INTERSECTION OF NIPTON ROAD)

*  AT 1130 AM PDT...RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ASSOCIATED
WITH A STORM LOCATED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF INTERSTATE 15 AND
NIPTON ROAD. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 5 MPH. ALTHOUGH
THIS STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE MOMENT... IT
LIKELY WILL SOMETIME DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. IN ADDITION...THIS
STORM IS LIKELY PRODUCING LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...STRONG WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADIC WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO... LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. BE
MINDFUL OF RISING WATERS.

SKRBAC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 25, 11:57 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino2 hr
Aug 25, 2:02 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino118 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.