Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 10:43 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 36.170, -115.150
Tornado and Flash Flooding in Nevada, September 11, 1998
Severe thunderstorms pounded the Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead for a few hours producing golfball size hail, a small tornado and widespread flash flooding. Large hail began falling shortly before 11 am PST and numerous hail reports came in for the next couple hours with some episodes causing damage to several automobiles.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $405,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 10
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorms pounded the Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead for a few hours producing golfball size hail, a small tornado and widespread flash flooding. Large hail began falling shortly before 11 am PST and numerous hail reports came in for the next couple hours with some episodes causing damage to several automobiles. A small tornado tore the roof off a Henderson warehouse and destroyed a large block wall at a service station a short distance away. Heavy rain fell mainly on the east side of the metro area with amounts up to 1.85 inches in a two hour period. As a result flash flooding filled streets and washes and trapped several motorists although no serious injuries occurred. The heavy rain damaged about one acre of the 750 acre Sunrise Landfill and carried significant amounts of debris into the Las Vegas wash. The Clark County School District activated the "shelter-in-place" policy for school children at approximately 30 schools around the area. Children were not bussed home until after flooding had subsided.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
7 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 10:55 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
- Coordinates
- 36.170, -115.150
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 11:05 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
- Coordinates
- 36.170, -115.150
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 11:14 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.170, -115.150
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 11:31 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Nellis Afb
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- METEOROLOGIST(NON NWS)
- Coordinates
- 36.250, -115.030
Flash Flood, Clark
- When
- September 11, 11:32 AM PST to 5:30 PM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 36.215, -115.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tornado, Clark
- When
- September 11, 11:56 AM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Henderson
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 36.030, -114.980
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 12:00 PM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Nellis Afb
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- METEOROLOGIST(NON NWS)
- Coordinates
- 36.250, -115.030
Flash Flood, Clark
- When
- September 11, 12:24 PM PST to 6:00 PM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Mead Lake
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- PARK/FOREST SERVICE
- Coordinates
- 36.215, -115.014 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail, Clark
- When
- September 11, 1:30 PM PST
- Where
- Clark County, Las Vegas
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Property damage
- $75,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.170, -115.150
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flooding and Rip Current in Guam, September 11 to 27, 1998
- Tornado in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Tornado in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Tornado in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Utah, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Texas, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Louisiana, September 11 to 12, 1998
- Tornado in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Tornado in Louisiana, September 11, 1998
- Flash Flood in Texas, September 11, 1998
More
Every storm in Nevada in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Nevada, 1998Warnings in Nevada, September 1998
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5672568, 5672569, 5672566, 5672567, 5672570, 5672574, 5672572, 5672571, 5672575, 5672573.