Alert archive / Nevada / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 11, NWS Elko, NV

August 2, 2003Elko County, Nevada

NWS Elko, NV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 2, 2003, 11:45 PM PDT for Elko County, Nevada. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 2003, 11:45 PM PDT (06:45 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 2003, 1:45 AM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Elko, NV
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elko County, NV

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood 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

Elko, NV (KLKN), launched 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 103 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, Elko, NV at 00:00Z on 2003-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 68 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Elko, NV at 00:00Z on 2003-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -94 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
68 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
926 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-73 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 
WGUS55 KLKN 030645
FFWLKN
NVC007-030845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV
1145 PM PDT SAT AUG 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL ELKO COUNTY IN NEVADA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...WELLS...SPRING CREEK...SOUTH FORK...
  RYNDON...RUBY VALLEY...LEE...LAMOILLE...JIGGS...ELKO...CLOVER
  VALLEY

* UNTIL 145 AM PDT

* AT 1134 PM PDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A FLASH FLOOD OVER SPRING
  CREEK...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPRING CREEK...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS 
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. 
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.

LAT...LON 4083 11602 4020 11578 4044 11447 4151 11476

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Elko, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 2, 8:18 PM PDT, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 8:18 PM PDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
NORTHERN GREAT BASIN FORECAST DISCUSSION
818 PM PDT SAT AUG 2 2003

DRYING FROM THE SOUTH INDICATED ON WATER VAPOR HELPING TO PUT A
DAMPER ON TODAYS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ON
RADAR DYING OUT SIGNIFICANTLY ON RADAR AS CELLS LOSE SURFACE HEATING.
DRY SLOT WILL ONLY BE TEMPORARY THIS EVENING THOUGH AS VORT LOCATED
OVER WESTERN NEVADA PUSHES THROUGH FORECAST AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT. STILL A LOT OF DYNAMICS IN PLACE TO KICK OFF CONVECTION
AFTER MIDNIGHT. STILL ON THE LEFT FRONT QUAD OF JUST THAT SLOWLY
MAKES ITS WAY INTO UTAH AFTER 18Z TOMORROW. THEN WE START SEEING
SOME DRYING TOMORROW AFTERNOON. SO...EVEN THOUGH THINGS SEEM TO BE
DYING DOWN NOW...HAD TO KEEP SOME THUNDERSTORM WORDING IN ALL ZONES
THROUGH THE FIRST PERIOD. LOWERED POPS IN MOST ZONES AND WILL SEND
UPDATE SHORTLY.

.EKO...NONE.

CLAYCOMB
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 2, 5:45 AM PDT, 18 hours before
NVZ030>037-031200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ELKO NV
545 AM PDT SAT AUG 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
NEVADA

.DAY ONE...

SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHERN AND EAST CENTRAL NEVADA TODAY. SOME OF THE
STRONGER STORMS CAN PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL IN A
SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS
NORTHERN AND EAST CENTRAL NEVADA ON SUNDAY...DIMINISHING EARLY NEXT
WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

FEHRN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 9:15 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLKNElko, White Pine30 min
Aug 3, 2:49 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningLKNElko71 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Nevada, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.