Another surge of monsoon moisture fueled widespread thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. Many storms produced flash flooding, and isolated severe weather also occurred.
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.
Another surge of monsoon moisture fueled widespread thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin. Many storms produced flash flooding, and isolated severe weather also occurred.
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 29, 2:37 PM MST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
237 PM PDT THU AUG 29 2013
.SYNOPSIS...A FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL FLOW PATTERN WILL CONTINUE TO
BRING MONSOON MOISTURE INTO THE AREA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK
AND RESULT IN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. THE
PRIMARY HAZARD WITH STORMS...ESPECIALLY THROUGH SUNDAY...WILL BE
HEAVY RAINFALL THAT COULD RESULT IN DANGEROUS FLASH FLOODING.
&&
.SHORT TERM...MAINLY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SO FAR THIS AFTERNOON
HOWEVER EXPECTATIONS ARE FOR SOUTHERN MOHAVE AND EASTERN SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTIES TO FILL IN BASED ON STORM ACTIVITY JUST OUTSIDE
OF THE CWA AND LATEST SATELLITE TRENDS. REGARDING THESE ISOLATED
STORMS...IT IS VERY APPARENT THEY ARE LOW MOVING AND EFFICIENT RAIN
PRODUCERS. THE RADAR ESTIMATED RAIN RATES AND OBSERVED GAGE DATA ARE
QUITE IMPRESSIVE. ANY STORM THAT DEVELOPS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO
UNLOAD AND CREATE PROBLEMS QUICKLY SO REMAIN AWARE.
TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS HEAVY RAIN PRODUCING
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE WATCH AREAS THIS
EVENING WITH MORE ISOLATED...BUT EQUALLY INTENSE...STORM COVERAGE
ELSEWHERE. STORMS EVERYWHERE ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH IN INTENSITY
AND COVERAGE OVERNIGHT. SIMILAR CONDITIONS ARE IN PLACE FOR SATURDAY
AND SUNDAY REGARDING AVAILABLE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY. HOWEVER...
OVERALL COVERAGE COULD BE REDUCED IF FORECASTED THICKER CLOUD COVER
BECOMES A REALITY AND LIMITS DAYTIME HEATING. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE
CLEARER BY MORNING AND HELP DIMINISH THE CURRENT UNCERTAINTY FOR
ISSUING ANY ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOOD WATCHES FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
TEMPERATURES ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO BE BELOW NORMAL FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY BASED ON EXPECTED LACK OF SUNSHINE BUT COULD EXCEED
FORECASTED NUMBERS IF CLOUD COVER THINS.
.LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...MINIMAL CHANGES MADE TO THE
EXTENDED SINCE OVERALL THINKING IS UNCHANGED. MONSOON MOISTURE WILL
REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH THE DEEPEST MOISTURE
FORECAST OVER MOHAVE COUNTY. THERE REMAINS SOME MODEL AGREEMENT THAT
A BIG RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL STATES WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT WESTWARD BY
THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...RESULTING IN RISING HEIGHTS THAT COULD HELP
WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND CAP THE AIRMASS. OTHERWISE...TYPICAL
MONSOON CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON/EVENING MINUS ANY
TROPICAL INFLUENCE.
&&
.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...EAST WINDS GENERALLY UNDER 8KTS SHOULD
SHIFT MORE TO THE SOUTHEAST OR SOUTH BY LATE AFTERNOON ALTHOUGH
STORMS AROUND THE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON COULD TURN WINDS IN MULTIPLE
DIRECTIONS. TYPICAL DIURNAL DIRECTIONAL TRENDS EXPECTED TONIGHT AWAY
FROM ANY SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY OR OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. WILL MAINTAIN
VCTS IN THE TAF THROUGH 03Z. OTHERWISE EXPECT SCT-BKN CLOUDS MAINLY
AOA 10K-15K FEET WITH LOWER BASES...CIGS AND VSBY IN AND NEAR ANY
SHRA/TSRA.
FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...THE GREATEST COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOHAVE...SAN BERNARDINO AND
SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTIES. ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA ELSEWHERE. REDUCED
CIGS/VSBY TO MVFR OR LOWER AND GUSTY AND ERRATIC WINDS OVER 35 KTS
ARE POSSIBLE IN AND NEAR ANY SHRA/TSRA. OTHERWISE WINDS SHOULD FAVOR
TYPICAL DIURNAL TRENDS WITH SCT-BKN CLOUDS AOA 10K-15K FEET.
&&
.VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NV...NONE.
AZ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM NOON MST TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR
AZZ002-003.
CA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM NOON PDT TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR
CAZ524>527.
&&
SALMEN
FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE:
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
542 PM PDT THU AUG 29 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0300 PM FLASH FLOOD JOSHUA TREE 34.13N 116.32W
08/29/2013 SAN BERNARDINO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
A TRUCK AND TRAILER WERE STRANDED IN SWIFT WATER IN
JOSHUA TREE.
0300 PM FLASH FLOOD NEBO CENTER 34.87N 116.96W
08/29/2013 SAN BERNARDINO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
CALTRANS REPORTED THAT INTERSTATE 40 EAST BOUND WAS
CLOSED AT NEBO CENTER DUE TO FLASH FLOODING.
&&
ASGThe Las Vegas radar (KESX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:42 UTC.
10 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Mud and gravel flowed over Stockton Hill Road at Northern Avenue.
Route 66 was closed at mile marker 64 due to flooding.
Over a foot of flowing water with large rocks and debris covered streets in Lake Havasu City. A spotter measured 0.66 inch of rain in 15 minutes.
Water, rocks, and mud flowed over Highway 66 near Oatman.
A car was stuck in a flooded wash on South Estrella Road.
DW Ranch Road was flooded and impassable.
Water and debris flowed across Stockton Hill Road at mile marker 34.
Water and debris flowed across Stockton Hill Road at Red Wing Canyon Road.
Three swift water rescues occurred in Golden Valley.
DW Ranch Road and Blake Ranch Road were closed due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2013
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: 473420, 473421, 473422, 473423, 473424, 473425, 473426, 473428, 473429, 473430, 473431.