Monsoon moisture fueled another round of thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert. A few 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.
Monsoon moisture fueled another round of thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert. A few 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 Aug 3, 2:33 PM PST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 333 PM PDT FRI AUG 3 2012 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE OVER CENTRAL NEVADA AND SOUTHERN UTAH WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT NORTH SATURDAY AS A WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVES NORTH. THIS WILL HELP INCREASE MONSOONAL MOISTURE ONCE AGAIN LEADING TO ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAINLY THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE CWA...WHILE DECREASING OVER THE SOUTHERN AREAS. MORE OF A SOUTHWEST FLOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SUNDAY KEEPING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES MAINLY CONFINED TO THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL RUN AT TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL THROUGH SUNDAY. && .SHORT TERM...CONVECTION HAS MAINLY BEEN FIRING ON A LINE FROM SOUTHWEST UTAH THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL LINCOLN INTO CENTRAL NYE COUNTY. SO FAR THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN PRETTY MUCH ANCHORED TO THE TERRAIN AS THE MID LEVEL EASTERLIES HAVE BEEN RATHER WEAK. SO IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A FEW STORMS COULD PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING. DEWPOINTS HAVE REMAINED FAIRLY LOW OVER THE FAR NORTHERN AREAS OF THE CWA UNDER HIGH PRESSURE WHILE MOISTURE REMAINS FAIRLY DEEP OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA AND MOST OF THE STORMS HAVE DEVELOP ALONG THE SHARP DEWPOINT GRADIENT. WEAK DISTURBANCE OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL LIFT NORTH TONIGHT AND THERE MAY BE ENOUGH ENERGY AVAILABLE TO KEEP STORMS GOING OVER NIGHT OVER THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA WHILE MOST OTHER AREA WILL SEE STORMS DISSIPATE THIS EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY LIFT NORTH SATURDAY AS THE WEAK INVERTED TROUGH ALSO LIFTS NORTH. WE WILL SEE SOME DRIER AND MORE STABLE AIR WORKING INTO THE FAR SOUTHERN AREAS OF THE CWA WHILE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL AREAS OF THE CWA. EVEN MORE DRYING IS EXPECTED SUNDAY WITH STORMS MAINLY CONFINED TO THE EASTERN AREAS OF THE CWA. BY MONDAY...MOST OF THE AREA IS EXPECTED TO SEE PW VALUES BELOW 1 INCH WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MOHAVE COUNTY WHERE THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. .LONG TERM...ONLY MINOR TWEAKS TO THE LONG TERM FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON...WITH MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND DIFFERENCES DEVELOPING THEREAFTER. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLOWLY DRIFT WEST THROUGH THE FOUR CORNERS REGION THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY. LATEST GUIDANCE BRINGS THE LOW FURTHER WEST COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. THIS WOULD ALLOW DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES TO CLIMB A BIT HIGHER THAT FORECAST YESTERDAY. THIS TREND IS NOW SEEN IN THE MOS GUIDANCE...WITH KLAS HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGING FROM 103F TO 111F ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AGREED WITH PREVIOUS SHIFT THAT THE HIGH END IS NOT SUPPORTED BY 700 AND 850 MB TEMPERATURES. HOWEVER...HAVE TRENDED WARMER NEXT WEEK WITH THIS PACKAGE...WITH HIGHS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN 103F AND 108F IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL REMAIN CONFINED TO THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA AS DRY SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW DOMINATES ACROSS THE WEST. MOHAVE COUNTY WILL BE THE PRIMARY THUNDERSTORM CONCERN THROUGH THE PERIOD. LARGER SCALE DIFFERENCES BECOME APPARENT DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. MODELS DISAGREE ON HOW TO HANDLE THE LOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST AS WELL AS DISTURBANCES MOVING ONSHORE ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS. WILL ALLOW MODELS TO COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT BEFORE MAKING ANY MAJOR CHANGES LATE NEXT WEEK. OUTSIDE OF THE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM THREAT IN THE FAR EASTERN ZONES...LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS TO REMAIN LOW THROUGH THE EXTENDED. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA NEAR THE AIRPORT AND IN THE APPROACH CORRIDORS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING THROUGH 04Z...OTHERWISE FEW-SCT CLOUDS AOA 8K FEET WITH WINDS FAVORING DIURNAL TRENDS. ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY ESPECIALLY AFTER 19Z. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SCT SHRA/TSRA WILL CONTINUE TO BE AROUND THIS EVENING ACROSS LINCOLN...CLARK...CENTRAL NYE AND NORTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY WITH ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA IN THE SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DESERTS. MOST ACTIVITY SHOULD DIMINISH BY 06Z SATURDAY. ON SATURDAY SCATTERED SHRA/TSRA ARE EXPECTED ACROSS LINCOLN...ESMERALDA...INYO...AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTIES WITH ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA ELSEWHERE MAINLY AFTER 19Z. OTHERWISE EXPECT FEW-SCT CLOUDS AOA 8K FEET WITH WINDS FAVORING DIURNAL TRENDS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA... && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && GORELOW/WOLCOTT/STACHELSKI HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 544 AM PDT FRI AUG 3 2012 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ522>527-NVZ015>022-041000- NORTHWEST PLATEAU-LOWER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY-NORTHWEST DESERTS- LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA-DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK- WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT-EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT-MORONGO BASIN- CADIZ BASIN-SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY-UPPER COLORADO RIVER VALLEY- LINCOLN COUNTY-NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY- WESTERN CLARK AND SOUTHERN NYE COUNTY-SHEEP RANGE- SPRING MOUNTAINS-LAS VEGAS VALLEY-SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY- 544 AM PDT FRI AUG 3 2012 /544 AM MST FRI AUG 3 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL POSSIBLE WITH STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE BEST AREA FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SHIFTING NORTH ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA BY SUNDAY...AND REMAIN ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY. A SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL USHER IN DRIER AIR AND GREATER STABILITY OVER THE MOJAVE DESERT ON SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .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. CAZ519>521-NVZ014-041000- EASTERN SIERRA SLOPES-OWENS VALLEY-WHITE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY- ESMERALDA AND CENTRAL NYE COUNTY- 544 AM PDT FRI AUG 3 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT DRIER AIR ACROSS WESTERN INYO AND ESMERALDA COUNTY WILL LEAD TO ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EAST SLOPES OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA. GUSTY WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MOISTURE WILL WORK NORTHWARD INTO WESTERN INYO AND ESMERALDA COUNTY TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .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
545 PM PDT FRI AUG 03 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0545 PM HAIL SE BEATTY 36.91N 116.76W
08/03/2012 E0.25 INCH NYE NV TRAINED SPOTTER
TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL OCCURRING IN
BEATTY.
&&
CSTUMPFThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds blew down large tree limbs in and just south of Beatty.
North Avenue in Beatty was washed out at the west end, and covered with mud elsewhere.
Mud washed onto several roads in the Nevada Treasure RV Resort in Pahrump, and there were several inches of water and mud on Highway 160 just north of town.
Mud washed onto portions of Ash Meadows Road near Amargosa Valley.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, August 2012
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: 395539, 395540, 395541, 395542.