Hail in Nevada, July 18, 2002

Name: Hail in Nevada, July 18, 2002
Start: 2002-07-18T10:45
End: 2002-07-18T11:00
Location: Nevada

July 18, 2002 · NWS REV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Spotter reports 1 inch hail occurring at 11:47 am PDT with severe thunderstorm moving over Hawthorne, NV.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 REV wrote it up.

Spotter reports 1 inch hail occurring at 11:47 am PDT with severe thunderstorm moving over Hawthorne, NV.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Jul 18, 8:45 AM PST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 8:45 AM PST, 2 hours before

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

AIRMASS OVER WRN NV AND SIERRA REMAIN MOIST AND UNSTABLE WITH
VORT MAX NEAR SAC THIS MORNING. FORECAST LI OF -4 AND CAPE AROUND
1100 J/KG BY AFTN. K INDEX FAIRLY LOW AT 20 MAINLY DUE TO DRY AIR
AT 700 MB. SFC DEWPOINTS IN MID 40S TO LOWER 50S AND CONVECTIVE
TEMP OF 78 TRIGGERING AT 18Z. STEERING WINDS FAIRLY LIGHT BETWEEN
700 AND 500 MB LESS THAN 15 KTS. WILL ISSUE FF WATCH FOR SRN CWA
UNTIL 6 PM DUE TO SLOW MOVEMENT OF STRONG TSTMS. VORT MAX MOVES E
OF AREA FRIDAY BUT WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL KEEP
SLGT CHC TSTMS MOST AREAS. ANOTHER VORT MAX MOVES TO CENTRAL CA CST
ON SAT FOR MORE TSTMS THIS WEEKEND. CYLKE

.REV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH NVZ01..02..03..04...CAZ073 UNTIL 6 PM.

The radar

The Reno radar (KRGX), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Mineral

When: July 18, 10:45 AM PST to 11:00 AM PST
Where: Mineral County, Hawthorne
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.533, -118.617

1 inch hail

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Nevada in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Nevada, July 2002

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: 5314703.