Alert archive / California / Flash Flood Warnings in 2005

Flash Flood Warning 71, NWS Las Vegas, NV

October 18, 2005San Bernardino County, California

NWS Las Vegas, NV issued this flash flood warning at Oct 18, 2005, 5:18 AM PDT for San Bernardino County, California. It was in force for 3 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
Oct 18, 2005, 5:18 AM PDT (12:18 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 2005, 8:15 AM PDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Las Vegas, NV
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County San Bernardino County, CA

The radar

The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:22 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 12:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 185 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 2005-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2005-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1070 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 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 181221
FFWVEF
CAC071-181515-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
518 AM PDT TUE OCT 18 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA

* UNTIL 815 AM PDT

* AT 511 AM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  FLASH FLOODING FROM THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL SAN                 
  BERNARDINO COUNTY...MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. FLOODING OF THE
  MITCHELL CAVERNS AND WINDING STAIR CAVERNS ACCESS ROAD IS OCCURRING.
  OTHER ROADS WITHIN THE MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE WILL ALSO LIKELY
  FLOOD.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL 
CREEKS AND STREAMS AND DESERT ROADS.

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.

IN HILLY TERRAIN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF LOW WATER CROSSINGS WHICH ARE
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS IN HEAVY RAIN. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TRAVEL ACROSS
FLOODED ROADS. FIND ALTERNATE ROUTES. IT ONLY TAKES A FEW INCHES OF
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATER TO CARRY VEHICLES AWAY.

LAT...LON 3477 11561 3485 11502 3539 11524 3530 11586

$$

PIERCE
1 follow-up statement
000
WGUS75 KVEF 181329
FFSVEF

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
629 AM PDT TUE OCT 18 2005

CAC071-181515-
SAN BERNARDINO CA-
629 AM PDT TUE OCT 18 2005

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 815 AM PDT FOR EAST CENTRAL 
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY...INCLUDING THE MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE

AT 624 AM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO 
INDICATE THUNDERSTORMS REDEVELOPING OVER THE SAME AREA OF THE MOJAVE 
NATIONAL PRESERVE PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING. TRAVEL INTO THE MOJAVE 
NATIONAL PRESERVE TODAY IS NOT RECOMMENDED AS MANY ROAD WILL BE 
FLOODED OR POSSIBLY BLOCKED BY MUD AND DEBRIS.

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.

LAT...LON 3475 11559 3490 11478 3542 11522 3536 11582

$$

PIERCE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 7:44 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino3 hr
Oct 17, 9:28 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino26 min
Oct 17, 10:40 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino110 min
Oct 18, 3:18 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino33 min
Oct 18, 3:31 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningVEFSan Bernardino44 min
Oct 18, 3:54 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningVEFSan Bernardino3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in California, 2005Every flash flood warning in 2005

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.