California, 2004

Flash Flood in California, September 11, 2004

September 11, 2004 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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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 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 Las Vegas, NV wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 11, 1:12 PM PST, 7 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 1:12 PM PST, 7 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
212 PM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

.SYNOPSIS...AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST SUNDAY BRINGING A DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW TO THE
AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN 2-3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH
TUESDAY.
&&

.SHORT TERM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER THE FORECAST
AREA WHERE MODERATE INSTABIILITY COMBINED WITH DIFFERENTIAL HEATING
AND NUMEROUS REMNANT BOUNDARIES HAVE ALLOWED LFC TO BE REACHED OVER
SEVERAL LOCAL AREAS. CONVECTION CONTINUES TO BE SUPPORTED BY LARGE
SCALE LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH SUBTROPICAL JETSTREAK AS WELL. SLOW
MOVEMENT AND TRAINING OF CELLS CONTINUES TO SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR
FLASH FLOODING IN SOME LOCATIONS AS STORMS BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD.
MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT IN PROJECTING PACIFIC TROUGH TO MOVE
ONSHORE TOMORROW AND FORCE THE DEEP MOISTURE TO RECEDE. THAT SHOULD
OFFICIALLY MARK THE END TO OUR MONSOON SEASON FOR THIS YEAR.
&&

.LONG TERM...AGREEMENT BETWEEN MODELS IS FAIR IN THE EXTENDED
WEDNESDAY TO SATURDAY TIME FRAME WITH DIFFERENCES CENTERED AROUND
DEPTH AND TIMING OF LATE WEEK TROUGHING OVER THE WEST. MOISTURE
SHOULD BE LONG GONE FROM THIS WEEKENDS LAST MONSOON HURRAH. WESTERLY
TO SLIGHT SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW...DEPENDING ON THE MODEL OF
CHOICE...WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP MOISTURE OUT AND CLOUD COVER LOW.
MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO TEMPERATURES WAS ABOUT THE ONLY THING
MODIFIED IN THE EXTENDED.
&&

.AVIATION...TAF ADEQUATELY COVERS ALL SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED
AT KLAS.
&&

.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NV...FLOOD WATCH FOR FLASH FLOODING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR
NV ZONES 18/19-20/22
.AZ...NONE.
.CA...FLOOD WATCH FOR FLASH FLOODING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
FOR CA ZONE 28.
&&

RUNK/JACQUES

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 11, 7:55 PM PST, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
855 PM PDT SAT SEP 11 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0545 PM     FLASH FLOOD      15 NE BARSTOW           35.03N 116.88W
09/11/2004                   SAN BERNARDINO     CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            APPROXIMATELY 12 TO 14 INCHES OF WATER ACROSS FORT IRWIN
            ROAD.

0610 PM     FLASH FLOOD      15 NE BARSTOW           35.03N 116.88W
09/11/2004                   SAN BERNARDINO     CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            10 MILE STREACH OF FORT IRWIN ROAD UNDER WATER OR WASHED
            OUT. HUGE BOULDERS AND DIRT ALL OVER THE ROAD. ROAD IS
            IMPASSABLE.

&&

PIERCE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Inyo

When
September 11, 8:17 PM PST to 10:15 PM PST
Where
Inyo County, Death Vly
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
36.511, -117.411 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash flooding occurred over Highway 178 in Death Valley between Mormon Point and Jubliee Pass. Reports said several hundred feet of roadway were washed away and many points along the road were impassable with rocks and debris.

What these are

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2004

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: 5422435.