Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 38, NWS Las Vegas, NV

August 20, 2003Inyo County, California

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this flash flood warning at Aug 20, 2003, 8:42 PM PDT for Inyo County, California. It was in force for 93 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
Aug 20, 2003, 8:42 PM PDT (03:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 2003, 10:15 PM PDT
In force
93 min
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Inyo County, CA

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:44 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Mercury/Desert R, NV (KDRA), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 181 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 00:00Z on 2003-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 79 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, Mercury/Desert R, NV at 00:00Z on 2003-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
79 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1940 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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.

000 
WGUS55 KVEF 210345
FFWVEF
CAC027-210515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
842 PM PDT WED AUG 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL INYO COUNTY IN EASTERN CALIFORNIA

* UNTIL 1015 PM PDT

* AT 842 PM PDT...THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED FLASH
  FLOODING ALONG ROUTE 136 SOUTH OF LONE PINE TO SOUTH OF KEELER...
  OR ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF OLANCHA...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THIS AREA HAVE 
APPROACHED 1.50 INCHES AN HOUR...WITH LOCALIZED FLOODING IN PROGRESS.

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 TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.

LAT...LON 3689 11827 3622 11793 3642 11766 3705 11800

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 5:00 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino2 hr
Aug 20, 7:31 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino119 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.