Alert archive / Nevada / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 24, NWS Reno, NV

July 18, 2002Pershing County, Nevada

NWS Reno, NV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 2002, 3:20 PM PDT for Pershing County, Nevada. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 18, 2002, 3:20 PM PDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired: Jul 18, 2002, 3:45 PM PDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Reno, NV
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pershing County, NV

The radar

The Reno radar (KRGX), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Reno, NV (KREV), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 64 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: 5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -261 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2165 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 25 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.

752 
WUUS55 KREV 182220
SVRREV
NVC027-182245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
317 PM PDT THU JUL 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL PERSHING COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL NEVADA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF LOVELOCK

* UNTIL 345 PM PDT

* AT 308 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF LOVELOCK...MOVING NORTH AT 10
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LOVELOCK THROUGH 345 PM 

BLOWING DUST HAS REDUCED VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO IN LOVELOCK. THIS 
STORM WILL PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN 
DIAMETER...ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS.  

REPORT DAMAGING WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE.

LAT...LON 3997 11850 4003 11828 4032 11838 4025 11866

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 Reno, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 18, 3:00 PM PDT, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 3:00 PM PDT, 20 minutes before

WESTERN NEVADA AND EASTERN CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
300 PM PDT THU JUL 18 2002

VERY ACTIVE TSTMS OVER AREA THIS AFTN WITH MIXTURE OF SEVERE AND
FLASH FLOOD EVENTS. VORT MAX RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTIVITY MOVING SLOWLY
ENE ACROSS AREA THIS EVENING WITH SLOW CLEARING OVERNIGHT. HAVE
EXTENDED FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 8 PM OVER ENTIRE CWA. ENOUGH
RESIDUAL MOISTURE AND INSTABLITY TO TRIGGER ISOLATED TSTMS FRIDAY
DESPITE VORT MAX MOVING EWD AS FLOW REMAINS FAIRLY LIGHT. LIGHT
FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES OVER AREA ON SATURDAY WITH DIURNAL TSTMS
POPPING UP OVER MTNS IN EARLY AFTN AND VALLEYS BY LATE AFTN AND
EVENING. A LITTLE MORE DYNAMICS ON SUNDAY AS ANOTHER VORT MAX MOVES
TWD NRN CA CST AND THEN INLAND ON MONDAY. CYLKE

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...MON THRU THUR...MODELS DIVERGE QUITE A BIT.
ON MONDAY. THE MRF FEATURES A LOW OFF THE NRN CA COAST...PLACING THE
REGION UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW. THE NEW AVN IS
MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH THE LOW...BRINGING IT INLAND OVER NRN CA.
THE NOGAPS AGREES WITH THE MOIST AVN SOLN AND THE ECMWF PUTS WRN NV/
E CA UNDER LIGHT S TO SE FLOW.  OVERALL WILL GO WITH A COMPROMISE
SOLN ATTM.  WITH THE AVN SHOWING LI INDICES OF -3 TO -4 ON MONDAY
ACROSS THE NRN ZONES...FEEL THE NEED TO INCREASE POPS TO CHANCE
CATEGORY FOR ALL BUT THE SRN ZONES ON MONDAY. LOWERED MAX TEMPS A
FEW DEGREES AS WELL...DUE TO LOWER HEIGHTS AND INCREASED CLOUD
COVER.  WITH THE UNCERTAINTY OF MONDAY WILL SLOW THE DRYING TREND A
BIT...MAKING TUESDAY A TRANSITION DAY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR
CONVECTION REMAINING ACROSS THE NORTH AND FAR EAST.  THE 4 CORNERS
HIGH RETROGRADES BACK INTO THE CWA WITH RISING HEIGHTS AND A DRY AND
STABLE AIRMASS UNDER SUBSIDENCE ALOFT FOR WED AND THUR. BROWN

.REV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH NVZ001>005...CAZ070>073 UNTIL 8 PM.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 18, 12:10 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	REV	Mineral	35 min
Jul 18, 12:20 PM PDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	REV	Washoe	25 min
Jul 18, 12:38 PM PDT	Flash Flood Warning	REV	Washoe	37 min
Jul 18, 12:59 PM PDT	Flash Flood Warning	REV	Washoe	61 min
Jul 18, 1:10 PM PDT	Flash Flood Warning	REV	Washoe	80 min
Jul 18, 1:43 PM PDT	Flash Flood Warning	REV	Douglas	92 min
Jul 18, 3:19 PM PDT	Flash Flood Warning	REV	Churchill, Lyon, Pershing, Storey, Washoe	101 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nevada, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.