Another push of monsoon moisture fueled thunderstorms over the eastern parts of the Mojave Desert. Some storms produced severe weather and flash flooding.
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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 push of monsoon moisture fueled thunderstorms over the eastern parts of the Mojave Desert. Some 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 Jul 17, 12:30 PM PST, 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 130 PM PDT Mon Jul 17 2017 .SYNOPSIS...A moist and unstable airmass will result in scattered to numerous thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall across southern Nevada...Northwest Arizona...and far eastern California through the week. Drier conditions are expected across most of Inyo county where temperatures will remain hot and skies remaining mostly sunny. Slight drying is advertised by the end of the week but isolated thunderstorm activity will remain possible across the region. && .SHORT TERM...thru Wednesday Night. Active evening expected with scattered to numerous thunderstorms developing across southern Nevada and Northwest Arizona. Instability across the region is impressive and favorable conditions will be in place for both very heavy rainfall and damaging microbursts winds. The ongoing flash flood watch looks good, and will need to watch for pulse severe storm potential through the remainder of the day. This coincides well with the SPC Day 1 outlook, highlighting a marginal risk of severe storms, and the WPC outlook suggesting an elevated flash flood threat. Storms today will most likely fire along the higher terrain of Clark and Mohave counties and gradually propagate into the hot and unstable lower deserts through the afternoon and evening, perhaps congealing into a complex that dives south towards the Colorado River valley. Conditions tomorrow will moisten further, with precipitable water of 1.0-1.5" or greater lifting north across much of eastern Mojave desert and into Lincoln county. Considered a flash flood watch but Im concerned about cloud cover limiting destabilization early in the day, especially from I-40 south. With some doubts on the amount of sunshine and instability that can be realized, held off an extension of the watch until we have greater confidence in the threat. The midnight shift can take a closer look tonight. Moisture will linger Wednesday as well, with continued potential for strong storms and heavy rainfall assuming cloud cover doesn't limit heating too much. Temperatures the next several days will be trending downward as clouds and shower/storm chances trend upward. .LONG TERM...Thursday through Monday. The latest GFS and ECMWF solutions indicate monsoonal moisture will be fairly substantial over southern Nevada and surrounding areas Thursday then trend downward for the weekend with less fuel for thunderstorms. A light southerly flow forecast over the region Thursday will keep in place substantial monsoonal moisture with Pwat values of 1.25-1.50" over Clark, eastern San Bernardino, Mohave and southeast Lincoln counties. Chances for thunderstorms will be similar to Wednesday and those moisture levels will provide the potential for some heavy rain producing storms. A drying southwest flow is then forecast Friday into Saturday as an eastern Pacific trough moves inland. Behind it Sunday and Monday, high pressure is forecast to lift up from Baja across southern California and over Nevada while an inverted trough moves west across Sonora and the Gulf of California. This may lead to another upswing in moisture after Monday, but thunderstorm chances were reduced a little Sunday and Monday. && .AVIATION...For McCarran...Very uncertain forecast for tonight and much of the week as thunderstorms will be the main concern. There are three possible scenarios this evening and tonight. The first scenario, with roughly a 30 percent chance of occurrence, is for thunderstorms to affect the terminal. If this occurs, the main threats will be very heavy rain and erratically shifting gusty winds, and the most likely time of occurrence would be between 2 PM and midnight. The second scenario, with roughly a 50 percent chance of occurrence, is for thunderstorms not to affect the terminal directly, but affect the approach corridors and cause erratic shifting winds at the terminal due to one or more outflow boundaries. If this occurs, outflow winds would most likely come from the south, east, or north, and the most likely time of occurrence would be between 3 PM and 3 AM. The third scenario, with roughly a 20 percent chance of occurrence, is for thunderstorms not to affect the terminal directly or via outflow boundary. If this occurs, winds would remain from a southerly direction at about 10 knots with occasional gusts of 15 to 20 knots. Most clouds would be above 10K ft, except for one to perhaps two oktas of cumulonimbus with lower bases. For the rest of southern Nevada, southeast California, and northwest Arizona...Scattered thunderstorms will persist through the evening, with the greatest coverage in Mohave, Lincoln, eastern Nye, Clark, and eastern San Bernardino Counties. The main threats will be very heavy rain and low ceilings in Mohave, Clark, southern Lincoln, and eastern San Bernardino Counties, and erratic gusty winds and blowing dust in eastern Nye and northern Lincoln Counties. Showers and thunderstorms could persist in Mohave County all night. Away from thunderstorm influences, winds will be mainly south to southwest at 10 to 20 mph. && .FIRE WEATHER...Increasing moisture is expected through Wednesday across the region with scattered to numerous thunderstorms expected across Southern Nevada and Northwest Arizona. Lesser activity is expected across eastern California, with generally dry conditions for most of Inyo county expected through the week. Daily rain chances and increased cloud cover can be expected further east along with improved relative humidity values which will hold though midweek before declining gradually as we approach the weekend. && .HYDROLOGY...Creeks, streams and rivers in northern Inyo County continue to run high and fast from snow melt. Some road closures continue in the area. Bishop Creek Bypass and Big Pine Creek Bypass continue to be utilized to minimize flows through Bishop and Big Pine. Isolated thunderstorms over the mountains may aid snowmelt runoff and keep some drainages elevated over the coming days as well. Remember, never drive through flooded roadways or around barricades. Also, pastureland or farmland adjacent to creeks, streams or rivers could experience areas of standing water. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && SHORT TERM/FIRE WEATHER...Outler LONG TERM...Adair AVIATION...Morgan For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: http://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:23 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Approximately 20 trees were blown down, two road signs were damaged, a brick wall and a fence were destroyed, and a wooden structure was destroyed.
Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines in Cottonwood Cove, and a gust of 58 mph was measured in Searchlight five minutes later.
Cottonwood Cove Road was inundated and undercut by flooding.
The southbound Highway 95 off ramp at Wagon Wheel Dr in Henderson was closed due to flooding, and water and mud washed over roads near Equestrian Dr and Magic Way.
Thunderstorm winds blew a tree down through the roof of a house. Gusts were estimated at 30-50 mph.
Water and debris flowed over Cottonwood Cove Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nevada in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Nevada, July 2017
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: 707959, 707960, 707962, 707963, 707964, 707965.