California, 2015

Flash Flood in California, August 1, 2015

August 1, 2015 · NWS VEF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The last remnants of monsoon moisture from the late July push produced isolated flash flooding in eastern California and western Nevada.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS VEF wrote it up.

The last remnants of monsoon moisture from the late July push produced isolated flash flooding in eastern California and western Nevada.

What forecasters said that day

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 1, 4:52 PM PST, 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 4:52 PM PST, 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
552 PM PDT SAT AUG 1 2015

.SYNOPSIS...THUNDERSTORMS WILL SETTLE DOWN AFTER SUNSET...THEN A
DRYING TREND IS EXPECTED THROUGH MUCH OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. FEWER
STORMS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY...THEN ANY STORMS ON MONDAY SHOULD BE
LIMITED TO NORTHERN INYO AND ESMERALDA COUNTIES. THE DRIER WEATHER
WILL HELP TEMPERATURES RISE TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL MONDAY
AND TUESDAY.
&&

.UPDATE...MESOLOW CONTINUES TO PUSH NORTH THROUGH CLARK COUNTY THIS
EVENING. SOME SHOWERS ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN CLARK...LINCOLN AND
MOHAVE COUNTIES...BUT HAVE GONE AHEAD AND CANCELLED THE FLASH FLOOD
WATCH FOR THOSE AREAS. I UPDATED CLOUDS AND POPS FOR THE SOUTHERN
AREAS AS SOME CLEARING HAS ADVANCED FURTHER NORTH.
&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...
248 PM PDT SAT AUG 1 2015

.SHORT TERM...THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PROPAGATED
NORTH NORTHWEST TODAY...WITH NYE COUNTY BEING THE CENTER OF THE
ACTION AS OF 230 PM. STORMS WILL QUIET DOWN AFTER SUNSET AS HEATING
IS LOST...BUT PROBABLY WILL NOT DIE OFF COMPLETELY AS MESOLOW/MCV
SLOWLY LIFTS NORTHWARD THROUGH THE CWA OVERNIGHT. MODELS CONTINUE TO
AGREE ON DESCENDING MOTION BEHIND THIS FEATURE...WHICH SHOULD LIMIT
PRECIP CHANCES TO AREAS NORTH OF LAS VEGAS ON SUNDAY. BROADER
SOUTHWEST FLOW STARTS TO TAKE OVER SUNDAY NIGHT...BRINGING LOWER
HUMIDITY AND PUTTING AN END TO THUNDERSTORM CHANCES. LOW
TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON WHERE RAIN
FALLS/FELL TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. HIGHS SUNDAY WILL COME UP QUITE
A BIT IN AREAS NEAR AND SOUTH OF LAS VEGAS WHERE IT RAINED TODAY BUT
SHOULD BE DRY TOMORROW.

.LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

BY MONDAY AFTERNOON, THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES WILL BE MOSTLY CONFINED
TO THE SIERRA...WHITE MOUNTAINS AND PORTIONS OF ESMERALDA COUNTY. A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF A SHOWER OR STORM EXISTS FOR BISHOP AS WELL. DRY
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS SOUTH OF THE AREA SETTING UP SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE CWA
BOTH DAYS. THE SAME GOES FOR THURSDAY EXCEPT THE ECMWF SHOWS MORE A
SOUTHERLY FLOW AND A WEAK RETURN OF MOISTURE TO MOHAVE COUNTY SO
LEFT AN INHERITED LOW END SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THERE FOR
THE AFTERNOON/EVENING HOURS. CHANCES ARE SOMEWHAT BETTER FOR PARTS
OF THE EASTERN CWA...IN PARTICULAR MOHAVE COUNTY...FOR SOME STORM
ACTION ON FRIDAY. HOWEVER THE LATEST MODELS TAKE THE DEEPER MOISTURE
PLUME EAST OF MOHAVE COUNTY WITH ONLY THREE QUARTERS TO ONE INCH
FORECAST ACROSS MOHAVE COUNTY ITSELF. WILL HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE HOW
HIGH PRESSURE EAST OF THE AREA INTERACTS WITH THE OFFSHORE LOW AND
HOW QUICKLY THE AIRMASS DRIES OUT AS THE LOW MOVES INLAND.

TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE WEEK SHOULD BE AROUND SEASONAL NORMALS BUT
COULD COOL OFF LATER IN THE WEEK IF MOISTURE INCREASES.
&&

.AVIATION...FOR MCCARRAN...THUNDERSTORM CHANCES HAVE LIKELY ENDED AT
THE TERMINAL...AND IF ANY MORE RAIN FALLS IT SHOULD BE LIGHT.
NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE PRESENT THROUGH APPROXIMATELY 04Z. THEN MORE
DIURNALLY DRIVEN WINDS ARE EXPECTED.

FOR THE REST OF SOUTHERN NEVADA...NORTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST
CALIFORNIA...THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL BE GREATEST OVER
NYE...ESMERALDA AND THE MOUNTAINS OF INYO COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. ERRATIC GUSTY WINDS AND MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM. STORM CHANCES WILL BE LIMITED TO
AREAS NEAR AND NORTH OF LAS VEGAS ON SUNDAY...WITH LESS COVERAGE
EXPECTED THAN WHAT HAPPENED TODAY.
&&

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT
ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING
PROCEDURES THROUGH SUNDAY. THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK LOOKS DRY.
&&

CZYZYK/MORGAN/SALMEN

FOR MORE FORECAST INFORMATION...SEE US ON OUR WEBPAGE:

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LASVEGAS OR FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

The radar

The San Joaquin Valley radar (KHNX), 168 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Inyo

When
August 1, 5:00 PM PST to 6:30 PM PST
Where
Inyo County, 8.72 mi NE of Big Pine to 9.14 mi NE of Big Pine
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
37.253, -118.160

Water, mud, and rocks covered Highway 168 in The Narrows section.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in California, August 2015

Sources

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: 584911.