California, 2005

Flash Flood in California, July 24, 2005

July 24, 2005 · 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. 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 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 Jul 24, 8:55 AM PST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 8:55 AM PST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
955 AM PDT SUN JUL 24 2005

.SYNOPSIS...A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS WILL LINGER OVER THE
REGION THROUGH TODAY FUELING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY
DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN
TO SPREAD INTO THE REGION FROM THE NORTHWEST LATE MONDAY AND WILL
PUSH MOST OF THE MOISTURE OUT OF THE REGION BY THE MIDDLE OF THE
WEEK.
&&

.UPDATE...STRONGEST STORMS NOW OVER NORTHEAST SAN BERNARDINO WITH
VISIBLE IMAGERY SHOWING COLD POOL DRIVING OUTFLOW BOUNDARY
SOUTH-SOUTHWEST ACROSS CENTRAL SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY.
RADAR/SATELLITE SHOWING NEW STORM DEVELOPING ALONG BOUNDARY ARCHING
FROM RIDGECREST EAST TO LAKE HAVASU CITY. FLASH FLOOD WARNING OUT
FOR AREA FROM BAKER SOUTHEAST TO HIGHWAY 95. CHP REPORTED FLASH
FLOODING ON STATE ROUTE 127 AT BAKER JUST PRIOR TO 900 AM. HOT SPOT
WILL BE WESTERN/SOUTHERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
WILL ALSO BE MONITORING DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN
INYO...ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY...SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY WITH
SUNNY SKIES AND BETTER MID-LEVEL SHEAR TO HELP ORGANIZE STORMS.
UNSURE IF RAIN COOLED BOUNDARY LAYER ACROSS CLARK COUNTY WILL BE
ABLE TO RECOVER DURING THE AFTERNOON FOR DEEP CONVECTION. AT ANY
RATE WITH PW AMOUNTS BETWEEN 1.50-2.00 INCHES WONT TAKE MUCH TO
PRODUCE MORE SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS. WILL NEED TO UPDATE TEMPERATURES
AND TWEAK POPS SOME WHILE REMAINDER OF PACKAGE FINE.
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...313 AM PDT SUN JUL 24 2005...SEVERAL OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES FROM EARLIER THUNDERSTORMS HAVE COLLIDED OVER VARIOUS
REGIONS OF THE CWA. NEW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS OCCURRING IN LAS
VEGAS AND SEVERAL OTHER PLACES IN THE SOUTHERN CWA. OUTFLOW FROM
LARGE COMPLEX IN WESTERN ARIZONA ALSO WORKING TOWARD THE SOUTHERN
CWA...SO EXPECT SOME ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP THIS
MORNING WITH ALL THE COLLIDING BOUNDARIES. THUNDERSTORMS ALSO
CONTINUE OVER THE NORTHERN AREA OF DEATH VALLEY WHERE A FLASH FLOOD
WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT. NEARLY THE SAME CONDITIONS TODAY AS
YESTERDAY EXIST IN REGARDS TO INSTABILITY PARAMETERS AND
MOISTURE...SO WE HAVE THAT GOING FOR US. HOWEVER...AM CONCERNED WITH
ALL THE THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY WHICH COULD HELP STABILIZE THINGS AT
LEAST THIS MORNING. BY THIS AFTERNOON...WE SHOULD SEE ENOUGH
DESTABILIZATION TO KICK OFF ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS AND WITH PW
VALUES REMAINING OVER 1.5 INCHES AND FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS THROUGH
500MB...EXPECT HEAVY RAINS FROM SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS. HAVE GONE
AHEAD AND ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
AREAS OF THE CWA. HAVE LEFT OUT INYO AND ZONE 14 DUE TO DRIER AIR
WORKING INTO THE REGION THAT SHOULD MINIMIZE THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE.
MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW DRIER AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA MONDAY WITH
THUNDERSTORMS CONFINED TO THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE CWA AND
EVENTUALLY ONLY MOHAVE COUNTY BY TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED
TO BE HELD DOWN BY ADDITIONAL CLOUD COVER.
&&

.LONG TERM...UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST
BEGINS TO REBUILD EAST OVER THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND
EVENTUALLY OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION BY FRIDAY. AS THE LOW
MIGRATES OVER THE CWA TUE/WED...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE
REDUCED BUT STILL POSSIBLE AS RESIDUAL MOISTURE REMAINS TRAPPED
UNDER THE HIGH. BY THURS/FRI...THE HIGH SHIFTS FURTHER EAST SETTING
UP A SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW INTO THE REGION. AN INCREASE IN
MOISTURE...POSSIBLY PROVIDED BY AN INVERTED TROUGH MOVING WEST
THROUGH MEXICO IS FORECASTED BY THE MODELS TO BE ADVECTED INTO THE
AREA. WILL HAVE TO WATCH THIS AS IT COULD POTENTIALLY BECOME THE
NEXT MONSOONAL PUSH BY NEXT WEEKEND.
&&

.AVIATION...EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE DAY IN ALL
APPROACH CORRIDORS. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE NUMEROUS
OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES MOVING IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS...RESULTING IN
SPORADIC WIND SHIFTS AND OCCASIONAL GUSTY WINDS AT KLAS.
&&

.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NV...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT SOUTHERN NEVADA ZONES 15-22
      UNTIL 9 PM TODAY.
.AZ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST ARIZONA ZONES
      1-3 AND 36 UNTIL 9 PM TODAY.
.CA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA
      ZONES 28 AND 29 UNTIL 9 PM TODAY.
&&

GORELOW/MORGAN

The radar

The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, San Bernardino

When
July 24, 12:00 PM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
San Bernardino County, Twenty Nine Palms
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
34.133, -116.050

Flooding in Twentynine Palms, Landers, and Joshua Tree. Sections of Park Route 11 in Joshua Tree washed away. Several hundred people evacuated in Twentynine Palms.

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 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2005

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: 5458413.