Mid level dry air pushed in above low level monsoon moisture, triggering widespread thunderstorms with flash flooding and severe weather.
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.
Mid level dry air pushed in above low level monsoon moisture, triggering widespread thunderstorms with flash flooding and severe weather.
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 27, 12:50 PM PST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 150 PM PDT SAT JUL 27 2013 .SYNOPSIS...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY...MAINLY OVER THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE AREA. A DRYING TREND WILL THEN ALLOW THUNDERSTORMS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE FORECAST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL INTO MONDAY THEN NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...GENERAL INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA ALONG WITH THE VERY PLENTIFUL MOISTURE...PWAT VALUES ABOVE 1.5 INCHES CWA WIDE...AND VARIOUS LOW/MID LEVEL BOUNDARIES WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE ISOLATED/SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION THROUGH THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. AT THE SAME TIME...WATER VAPOR SAT IMAGE SHOWING THAT DRYING IS BEGINNING TO MOVE IN FROM THE WEST AS A WEAK UPPER LOW OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST SLOWLY BEGINS TO MOVE EAST. THIS LOW...HELPED BY A GENERAL TROUGH FORMING ALONG THE WEST COAST...WILL BRING FURTHER DRYING TO THE AREA ON MONDAY...RESULTING IN THUNDERSTORMS ENDING OVER THE CWA BY MONDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER FOR SUNDAY...AS THE DRYING BEGINS TO PUSH INTO THE CWA FROM THE WEST...THUNDERSTORMS/SHOWERS SHOULD BE CONFINED TO MAINLY CENTRAL NYE...LINCOLN...CLARK AND MOHAVE COUNTIES. PWAT VALUES WILL STILL BE WELL OVER AN INCH...DECENT CAPE VALUES AND CONTINUED NEGATIVE LI...ALL POINT TO ISOLATED/SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA ONCE AGAIN ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL ONCE AGAIN PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED FLOOD PROBLEMS...BUT AREAL EXTENT DOES NOT APPEAR TO WARRANT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH AT THIS TIME. AS MENTIONED FURTHER DRYING ON MONDAY SHOULD LIMIT THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY TO A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER MAINLY NORTHERN MOHAVE/NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTIES. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN A FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL BOTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...THE LATEST MODEL DATA CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THE CURRENT MEDIUM RANGE OUTLOOK WITH A DRYING AND WARMING TREND. THE 12Z GFS BRINGS A PUSH OF MONSOON MOISTURE TO THE FAR SOUTHEAST CWA ON WEDNESDAY WITH THE ONE INCH PWAT LINE EXTENDING INTO FAR SOUTHERN MOHAVE COUNTY. FORECASTED INSTABILITY REMAINS EAST OF THE AREA HOWEVER AND THE RESULTANT AFFECT WOULD LIKELY BE A SMALL INCREASE IN SURFACE MOISTURE AND SCT MID TO HIGH CLOUDS. THE SAME HOLDS TRUE FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. KEPT THE FORECAST DRY THROUGH THE PERIOD BASED ON FORECASTED STABLE CONDITIONS OVER THE CWA AND THE LACK OF DEEP LAYER MOISTURE. ALSO..THE STEERING FLOW IS UNFAVORABLE AND WILL LIKELY KEEP THUNDERSTORM GENERATED OUTFLOW MOVING AWAY FROM THE AREA. LITTLE CHANGE WAS NEEDED TO THE OVERALL INHERITED FORECAST. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IN AND AROUND THE VALLEY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON INCLUDING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED STORMS IN ALL APPROACH CORRIDORS. THE OVERALL MOVEMENT OF STORMS TODAY SHOULD TURN THE GENERAL SURFACE FLOW WEST TO SOUTHWEST HOWEVER...WINDS COULD BE LIGHT UNDER 8KTS AWAY FROM ANY STORM INFLUENCE OR ERRATIC AND GUSTY FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS WHEN ASSOCIATED WITH STORM OUTFLOW. IMPROVING CONDITIONS AFTER 03Z THIS EVENING INCLUDING SCT-BKN CLOUDS AOA 14K FT WITH WINDS DECREASING TO UNDER 10KTS. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED AREAWIDE TODAY...WITH WINDS GENERALLY OUT OF THE SOUTH AROUND 10KTS OUTSIDE OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. CIGS WILL VARY BUT COULD BE 6K FEET OR LOWER IN STORMS ALONG WITH BRIEF VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS IN HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS. && .VEF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NV...NONE. AZ...NONE. CA...NONE. && JENSEN/SALMEN FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 402 AM PDT SAT JUL 27 2013 AZZ001>003-036-CAZ519>527-NVZ014>022-280215- 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- 402 AM PDT SAT JUL 27 2013 /402 AM MST SAT JUL 27 2013/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST ARIZONA...CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHERN NEVADA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY INTO THIS EVENING OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN REMAINS THE PRIMARY THREAT DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF ANT STORM. FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS CAN OCCUR QUICKLY IN RECENT BURN AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY DRIER AIR WILL BEGIN TO WORK INTO THE AREA SUNDAY WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY. FLASH FLOODING WILL STILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH ANY STORM. BY TUESDAY...ENOUGH DRY AIR WILL BE OVER THE AREA TO LIMIT ANY THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NEVADA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANDY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
233 PM PDT SAT JUL 27 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0230 AM FLASH FLOOD 3 N PIPE SPRING NATIONA 36.91N 112.72W
07/27/2013 MOHAVE AZ LAW ENFORCEMENT
MOHAVE COUNTY DISPATCH REPORTS MOCCASIN WASH ROAD WAS
CLOSED BETWEEN 2-3 AM DUE TO FLASH FLOODING.
&&
CSTUMPFPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
448 PM PDT SAT JUL 27 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0443 PM FLASH FLOOD 8 SSE MEADVIEW 35.89N 114.02W
07/27/2013 MOHAVE AZ LAW ENFORCEMENT
MOHAVE COUNTY DISPATCH REPORTS DIAMOND BAR ROAD IS CLOSED
DUE TO WATER RUNNING ACROSS ROAD.
&&
CSTUMPFThe Las Vegas radar (KESX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
St. Thomas Road was completely washed out.
Water up to three feet deep flowed over several streets in Pahrump. Several cars got stuck, and Las Vegas media reported that 20 people were rescued by the Pahrump Fire Department. A spotter measured two inches of rain in an hour and a half.
Thunderstorm winds blew down a 20 foot tall palm tree.
Thunderstorm outflow winds knocked down two trees in Boulder City.
Thunderstorm outflow winds damaged a vehicle by yanking the door out of the owner's hand, bending the hinge.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, July 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: 466602, 466603, 466604, 466605, 466606, 466607, 466608, 466609.