A significant push of monsoon moisture fueled an outbreak of thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert. Many 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 significant push of monsoon moisture fueled an outbreak of thunderstorms over the Mojave Desert. Many 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 19, 3:07 AM MST, 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV 307 AM PDT MON AUG 19 2014 .SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DROPPING DOWN THE WEST COAST WILL ACT UPON MONSOON MOISTURE IN PLACE LEADING TO A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NORTHWEST ARIZONA AT LEAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. && .SHORT TERM...THROUGH TONIGHT... WILL BE BRIEF THIS MORNING AS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE. STORMS BASICALLY NORTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM THE NEVADA NATIONAL SECURITY SITE TO LAKE MEAD THEN SOUTH TO ESSEX CALIFORNIA. INTENSE STORM NEAR COYOTE SPRINGS FINALLY WEAKENING. STRONGER CORES THAT HAVE GONE OVER GAUGES SEEM TO BE PRODUCING AROUND FOUR TENTHS OF AN INCH IN AN HOUR OR LESS. SEVERAL FLOOD ADVISORIES ARE IN AFFECT FOR NORTHEAST CLARK AND MOHAVE COUNTIES. SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND SHIFT NORTH AND EAST INTO THE MORNING. ALL THIS ACTIVITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH A MINOR PERTURBATION EJECTING OUT OF CLOSED LOW ALONG THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST AND ADDITIONAL LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH 70 KT JETSTREAK. HI-RES MODEL SUGGEST ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS COULD RE-FIRE THIS AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA, SOUTHERN NEVADA AND NEAR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA. ACTION OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA MAY PERSIST WELL INTO THE EVENING/OVERNIGHT AS IT MOVES ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...MADE A FEW MINOR TWEAKS TO THE LONG TERM FORECAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER THAT POINT MODELS DIVERGE TO THE POINT WHERE LITTLE VALUE CAN BE ADDED OVER THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL BE SITUATED OVER SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA PLACING A 70-80KT JET OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THESE DYNAMICS WILL ALLOW FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE FROM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. POPS WERE INCREASED THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS POSSIBILITY. MODEL DIFFERENCE IN THE PATH OF THE LOW AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF MOISTURE BEGIN AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS TO BE ABOUT A 60/40 SPLIT IN THE DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE WITH THE MAJORITY LEANING TOWARD MORE PROGRESSIVE SOLUTIONS WHICH TAKE THE LOW ON AN EASTERLY TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST [THE OTHER 40 PERCENT STALL THE LOW AND ALLOW IT TO MEANDER OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC]. THAT SAID...CONFIDENCE IS FAIRLY LOW ON HOW FAST ANY OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN. IN ANY CASE HAVE CONTINUED THE TREND OF GRADUALLY DRYING THINGS OUT THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE ALREADY BELOW NORMAL FORECAST TEMPERATURES WERE COOLED SLIGHTLY DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK BEFORE THE DRYING TREND ALLOWS TEMPS TO CLIMB BY THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...THERE WILL BE STORMS WELL NORTH AND EAST OF THE VALLEY WELL INTO THIS MORNING. THIS EARLY MORNING ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST OR DISSIPATE. ISOLATED STORMS COULD RE-FIRE IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS. CONFIDENCE LOW THAT TERMINALS WOULD BE AFFECTED SO LEFT MENTION OUT OF FORECAST. CONVECTION WILL BE PRESENT IN THE MORMON MESA AND PEACH SPRINGS CORRIDORS THROUGH MUCH OF THE NEXT 24 HOURS AND COULD LEAD TO SHIFTING WINDS AT THE TERMINAL FROM OUTFLOW. FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM ESSEX TO RACHEL THIS MORNING, THEN REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON. STORMS COULD PERSIST WELL PAST MIDNIGHT OVER MOHAVE COUNTY. THE MAIN CONCERNS WILL BE GUSTY SHIFTING WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WITH LOW CEILINGS. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT INSTANCES OF FLASH FLOODING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...AND BLOWING DUST THROUGH TUESDAY. && SHORT TERM/AVIATION...PIERCE LONG TERM...WOLCOTT FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
1111 PM PDT MON AUG 18 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0314 PM TSTM WND GST BARSTOW-DAGGETT AP 34.85N 116.79W
08/18/2014 M60.00 MPH SAN BERNARDINO CA ASOS
0330 PM TSTM WND DMG 11 E DAGGETT 34.83N 116.69W
08/18/2014 SAN BERNARDINO CA PUBLIC
SEVERAL TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN AND A SHEET METAL GARAGE
DOOR WAS REPORTED DAMAGED IN NEWBERRY SPRINGS.
0339 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 NE BARSTOW-DAGGETT AP 34.87N 116.77W
08/18/2014 SAN BERNARDINO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED POWER LINES DOWN ON
MINNEOLA ROAD.
0700 PM FLASH FLOOD 7 SSW SHOSHONE 35.87N 116.30W
08/18/2014 INYO CA DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
CALTRANS REPORTS WATER FLOWING ACROSS STATE ROUTE 127
BETWEEN 5 AND 6 MILES NORTH OF THE INYO-SAN BERNARDINO
COUNTY LINE. WATER WAS 6-7 INCHES DEEP.
&&
STACHELSKIThe Las Vegas radar (KESX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:26 UTC.
10 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Oatman-Topock Highway was closed from mile markers 1 to 7 due to flooding.
Many streets in central Kingman were closed due to flooding.
Two to two and a half feet of water flowed over Pierce Ferry Road at Archibald Wash.
Several trees were blown down in Bullhead City, including some onto cars and one onto a mobile home. Two power poles were broken and several power lines taken down, knocking out power to about 6000 customers. One roof was blown off, and some other buildings had minor roof damage. A light pole was knocked down, and a satellite dish was bent. The KIFP ASOS recorded a peak gust of 68 mph.
Eight inches of water flowed over the intersection of Laguna and Jupiter.
Water and debris flowed over the road to Katherines Landing.
Gravel and rocks washed across Stockton Hill Road at mile marker 10.
Eight to ten inches of water flowed over Bacobi Road just south of Highway 68.
A vehicle was stuck in several feet of water where the Sacramento Wash crosses the Oatman-Topock Highway.
Rocks and debris washed over many of the side roads in Colorado City, and also over low lying spots on Cane Beds Road.
White Hills Road was washed out in multiple places.
Stockton Hill Road was closed from mile marker 16 to mile marker 40, and Pierce Ferry Road was closed at mile marker 16 due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, August 2014
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: 538863, 538864, 538865, 538866, 538867, 538868, 538869, 538870, 538871, 538872, 538873, 538874.