Lingering monsoon moisture produced a few thunderstorms over southeast California, leading to one flooding report.
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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.
The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.
Lingering monsoon moisture produced a few thunderstorms over southeast California, leading to one flooding report.
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 17, 8:27 AM PST, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 927 AM PDT WED SEP 17 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO MOST OF THE REGION TODAY...AND TO LINCOLN AND MOHAVE COUNTIES ON THURSDAY. GENERALLY DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED ON FRIDAY...BUT ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM APPROACHING THE AREA COULD BRING INCREASING WINDS FOR THE WEEKEND. && .UPDATE...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER LOW CENTERED NEAR THE SOUTHERN OREGON/NORCAL CASCADES AS OF MID-MORNING WITH A TRAILING RIBBON OF UPPER-LEVEL MOISTURE EXTENDING SOUTHWARD NEAR THE CALIFORNIA-NEVADA BORDER JUST ALONG AND EAST OF THE 500 MB TROUGH AXIS. SATELLITE LOOPS ARE SHOWING SCATTERED CLOUDS STILL ACROSS THE SIERRA AND THIS IS INDICATIVE OF SOME LINGERING MOISTURE WHICH HAS NOT BEEN ENTIRELY PUSHED OUT OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE CWFA JUST YET. LIS ARE PROGGED TO RISE TO AROUND 0 THIS AFTERNOON HERE...BUT THERE IS JUST ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND GIVEN THE FORCING OF THE TROUGH AXIS...IT IS HARD TO ARGUE THAT IT IS ENTIRELY NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT A SHOWER/TSTM OR TWO DONT POP UP OVER THE SIERRA LATER THIS MORNING OR THIS AFTERNOON. THIS ALSO FITS IN WITH THE CHANGES THAT OUR NEIGHBORS IN HANFORD MADE WITH THEIR GRIDS...SO AN UPDATE WAS MADE TO ADD IN ISOLATED TSTMS IN THE SIERRA AND WHITE MOUNTAIN ZONES OF INYO COUNTY FOR THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AND UPDATED PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SENT. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE AREA...THERE ARE STILL TSTMS GOING ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY AND A FEW SHOWERS AROUND IN CLARK COUNTY AND OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF DEATH VALLEY. PWATS ARE WELL UP OVER YESTERDAY WITH VALUES NEAR AN INCH AT ESSEX CA THIS MORNING. EXPECT TO SEE ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON IN THE REST OF THE AREA AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING TROUGH AXIS. SOME ENHANCEMENT FOR STORMS IS POSSIBLE ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY AS THEY ARE CLOSER TO A 50 KT JETSTREAK MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN AZ...AS WELL AS THE PROXIMITY TO ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE THAT WAS OVER EASTERN AZ AND HEADING EASTWARD. REMAINDER OF GRIDS/ZONES LOOK GOOD AND NO CHANGES WERE NEEDED. && .SHORT TERM...ISOLATED STORMS HAVE BEEN BUBBLING ALL NIGHT. THE MAIN AREA HAS BEEN EAST OF KINGMAN BETWEEN ROUTE 66 AND I-40...AND ANOTHER SHORT LIVED STORM BRIEFLY POPPED UP JUST NORTH OF RACHEL. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS CIRCULATION OVER FAR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH A TRAILING COMMA DOWN THROUGH MUCH OF THE STATE. THIS WILL SLOWLY MOVE NORTHEAST TODAY AND PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. ONLY CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS PACKAGE WAS TO INCREASE POPS OVER SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY WHERE THE COMMA TAIL HAS LAGGED BACK TO THE WEST. AS THIS FEATURE CONTINUES TO SHIFT NORTHEAST...PRECIP CHANCES WILL BE LIMITED TO THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF OUR CWFA THURSDAY...AND WE SHOULD DRY OUT FRIDAY. BY THAT TIME...THE TIGHTLY WOUND LOW SEEN NEAR 43N 142W THIS MORNING WILL BECOME A PLAYER. THERE HAS BEEN QUITE A BIT OF MODEL DISAGREEMENT AND RUN TO RUN DISCONTINUITY WITH THIS SYSTEM...SO CONFIDENCE IN THE DETAILS IS LOW. CURRENT MODEL CONSENSUS IS FOR A TRACK THROUGH FAR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FRIDAY AND ALONG THE NEVADA OREGON BORDER FRIDAY NIGHT. THIS WOULD KEEP MOST PRECIP CHANCES NORTH OF OUR AREA...BUT WINDS COULD BE A CONCERN. PAINTED SOME 25-30 MPH GUSTS IN THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN ZONES FRIDAY AFTERNOON...WHICH COULD BE TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW DEPENDING ON THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF THE LOW. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...MODELS STILL COMING CLOSE TO EACH OTHER CONCERNING THE WEEKEND TROUGH. THE TREND IS TO KEEP THE TRACK AND BULK OF THE WEATHER TO THE NORTH OF OUR FORECAST AREA. FOR SATURDAY I LOWERED THE PRECIPITATION CHANCES TO THE POINT THEY DO NOT APPEAR IN THE ZONES. FROM SUNDAY ONWARD THERE IS BROAD AGREEMENT IN A LARGE SCALE TROUGH SETTING UP OVER THE WESTERN 1/3 OF THE CONUS. THE GFS IS THE DEEPEST AND HAS A PACIFIC FRONT COMING THROUGH ON TUESDAY. THIS FAR OUT DID NOT LOWER TEMPERATURES DRASTICALLY BUT ONLY A FEW DEGREES FOR NOW. THE TEMPERATURE IS ONE PARAMETER THAT I HAVE LOW CONFIDENCE IN AFTER MONDAY. THE ECMWF IS SHALLOWER WITH THIS TROUGH AND DOES NOT BRING THE FRONT THIS FAR SOUTH. ANOTHER ITEM NEEDING ATTENTION ON TUESDAY WOULD BE WINDS AS THERE IS GOOD THERMAL GRADIENT FORECAST AND JET SPEEDS OF OVER 110 KNOTS ARE FORECAST OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA. IT IS ONE OF THOSE LOW PROBABILITY BUT HIGH IMPACT SITUATIONS. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY WILL SEE SIMILAR WEATHER TODAY AS YESTERDAY WITH THUNDERSTORMS FORMING OVER LOCAL MOUNTAINS BY EARLY AFTERNOON AND DRIFTING INTO THE VALLEY. EVEN IF THE STORMS DO NOT PASS OVER KLAS THE OUTFLOW WINDS COULD CAUSE ERRATIC WIND SHIFTS. OUTSIDE OF THE THUNDERSTORM EFFECTS WINDS WILL FOLLOW THE USUAL DIURNAL PATTERN OF SOUTHWEST AT NIGHT THROUGH MORNING THEN NORTHEAST TO EAST BY LATE MORNING. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE OVER MOST AREAS THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL POSE THE USUAL PROBLEMS...ESPECIALLY OUTFLOW WINDS. WINDS WILL BE PREDOMINATELY FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST IN AREAS AWAY FROM THUNDERSTORMS. && .FIRE WEATHER...THUNDERSTORMS TODAY REMAIN THE MAIN CONCERN. THERE IS STILL A SLIGHT RISK OF DRY THUNDER IN LINCOLN COUNTY...BUT IF ANY STORMS ARE DRY...EXPECT COVERAGE TO BE LESS THAN 15 PERCENT. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && UPDATE...STACHELSKI AVIATION...KENNEDY/JACQUES PREVIOUS SHORT TERM/LONG TERM/FIRE WX...MORGAN/JACQUES HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 227 AM PDT WED SEP 17 2008 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-180700- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY-NORTHWEST DESERTS- LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA-EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES- OWENS VALLEY-WHITE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY- DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK-WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT- EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT-MORONGO BASIN-CADIZ BASIN- SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY-UPPER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY- ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY-LINCOLN COUNTY- NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY-WESTERN CLARK AND SOUTHERN NYE COUNTY- SHEEP RANGE-SPRING MOUNTAINS-LAS VEGAS VALLEY- SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY- 227 AM PDT WED SEP 17 2008 /227 AM MST WED SEP 17 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO MUCH OF THE AREA TODAY. SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH FLOODING ARE NOT LIKELY...BUT CANNOT BE RULED OUT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL LINGER IN MOHAVE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES THURSDAY...THEN A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WILL BRING A RISK OF INCREASING WINDS FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE AREAL EXTENT AND STRENGTH OF THE WINDS ARE STILL HIGHLY UNCERTAIN...BUT THE BEST CHANCE FOR STRONG WINDS APPEARS TO BE IN THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...HOWEVER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MORGAN
The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 177 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:01 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water six inches deep was flowing across Amboy Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, September 2008
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: 132499.