A strong push of monsoon moisture brought thunderstorms to much of the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. Several storms produced severe weather and flash flooding.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
A strong push of monsoon moisture brought thunderstorms to much of the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. Several storms produced severe weather and flash flooding.
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 4, 2:14 PM PST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 314 PM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 .SYNOPSIS...MONSOON MOISTURE WILL KEEP CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN THROUGH THE WEEK. ISOLATED POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN COULD LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL WHILE HIGHER HUMIDITY WILL MAKE IT FEEL QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE...ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWER DESERTS. && .SHORT TERM...ON THIS INDEPENDENCE DAY WE THE PEOPLE OF THE DESERT SOUTHWEST CANNOT DECLARE OUR INDEPENDENCE FROM MONSOON MOISTURE. WILL LET THE LONG TERM FORECASTER SPECULATE ON WHEN THAT DAY MAY COME. THUS FAR TODAY...THE GREATEST COVERAGE OF STORMS HAS BEEN OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF INYO...ESMERALDA...NYE...AND FAR WESTERN LINCOLN COUNTIES. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN HAS BEEN OCCURRING...WITH NEARLY ONE INCH MEASURED AT A GAGE IN THE PANAMINT MOUNTAINS IN ONLY TWO HOURS. THUS FAR THE WESTERN DESERTS OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY HAVE REMAINED VERY QUIET...BUT IT WAS QUIET IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY THROUGH MUCH OF YESTERDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE THE CAP FINALLY BROKE AFTER 5 PM...SO WILL LEAVE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH INTACT. LITTLE CHANGE TO THE FORECAST BEYOND TONIGHT. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...THE IN PLACE MONSOON MOISTURE IS THE PRIMARY CONCERN AND DRIVER FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD. SUFFICE TO SAY MODELS SHOW DECENT MOISTURE HANGING IN THROUGH FRIDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE STAYS IN THE FOUR CORNERS AREA UNTIL THEN BEFORE IT WEAKENS AND IS SLIGHTLY SUPPRESSED BY TROUGHING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. UNTIL FRIDAY KEPT IN THE DIURNAL CYCLE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE AREA WITH THE HIGHEST POPS IN THE EASTERN 1/2 OF THE FORECAST AREA. BIGGEST CONCERN WITH THIS PATTERN IS THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING AND POSSIBLY ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS. THE TROUGHING COMING IN FROM THE WEST THIS WEEKEND WILL SET UP A DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW THAT SHOULD BEGIN TO LOWER POPS FROM WEST TO EAST. HOWEVER EXPERIENCE IS THAT THE DRYING TAKES A WHILE LONGER THAN MODEL OUTPUT SUGGESTS AND HAVE LEFT IN THE CHANCE POPS IN THE EASTERN 1/3 OF THE FORECAST AREA. WITH THE CLOUD COVER AND MOISTURE HAVE LEFT THE TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW NORMAL VALUES FOR THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...WITH THE CLOUD COVER CHANCES FOR A THUNDERSTORM AT KLAS ARE LOW BUT NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. OTHERWISE WINDS OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOWS WILL BE UNDER 12 KNOTS FROM THE SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH. THE CEILINGS OF ABOUT 12K FT THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD GO SCT TO FEW THIS EVENING. THE WINDS WILL GO LIGHT SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST TONIGHT. TUESDAY AFTERNOON WILL SEE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM IN THE VALLEY AND CHANCES ARE THEY WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF KLAS. THE PATTERN OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...WITH MONSOON MOISTURE IN PLACE THE AREA WILL FOLLOW A DIURNAL PATTERN FOR WINDS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WINDS WILL FOLLOW LOCAL DIURNAL PATTERNS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM EACH AFTERNOON FIRST ON HIGHER TERRAIN AND THEN IN THE VALLEYS. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS AND STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS. ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE INTO THE LATE EVENINGS. FOR TODAY AND THIS EVENING THE MAIN FOCUS FOR THE STORMS WILL BE NORTH OF A INYOKERN...HIKO..P38 LINE...AND THE WESTERN PART OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY. FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK ALL AREAS WILL BE AT THREAT WITH THE GREATEST LIKELIHOOD BEING IN CLARK...MOHAVE AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR CAZ523 UNTIL MIDNIGHT PDT TONIGHT. && MORGAN/JACQUES HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 614 AM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-050700- 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- 614 AM PDT MON JUL 4 2011 /614 AM MST MON JUL 4 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT MONSOON MOISTURE IS NOW WELL ENTRENCHED ACROSS THE MOJAVE DESERT AND SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR. LOCALIZED AREAS OF FLASH FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE. REMEMBER...DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS. TURN AROUND...DON'T DROWN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MOISTURE WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AND MOJAVE DESERT THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK LEADING TO MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING WILL BE A CONCERN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
207 PM PDT MON JUL 04 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0130 PM TSTM WND GST 1 E WELL 5B (NTS A05) 36.80N 115.97W
07/04/2011 M58 MPH NYE NV MESONET
&&
MORGANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
251 PM PDT MON JUL 04 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0200 PM TSTM WND GST SE AREA 27 (NTS A27) 36.77N 116.10W
07/04/2011 M64 MPH NYE NV MESONET
&&
MORGANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
339 PM PDT MON JUL 04 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0230 PM FLASH FLOOD 17 NW RACHEL (CMP19) 37.78N 115.99W
07/04/2011 NYE NV CO-OP OBSERVER
MUD WAS REPORTED OVER HIGHWAY 375.
&&
MORGANThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Two to three feet of water closed Highway 190 near the ghost town of Emigrant.
Scotty's Castle Road and Ubehebe Crater Road in Death Valley were covered with debris from flash flooding.
Six to 12 inches of water flowed across Highway 62 in Twentynine Palms.
An awning was damaged by thunderstorm winds.
Highway 168 was covered with water and debris between the North Lake turnoff and Lake Sabrina.
A spotter reported transformers knocked out, tree branches blown down, and shingles blown off roofs in Needles. The ASOS at Needles Airport (KEED) measured a gust to 67 mph.
Highway 190 was closed from Highway 395 to Highway 127 - a distance of 187 miles. Dante's View Road and Twenty Mule Team Road were also closed by flooding.
Water and mud covered Trona Road near Searles Station Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 2011
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: 310876, 310877, 310878, 310880, 310881, 310882, 310887, 310888.