A cold front moving through the Mojave Desert helped lift an unstable air mass, producing scattered thunderstorms. Isolated flash flooding occurred.
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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.
A cold front moving through the Mojave Desert helped lift an unstable air mass, producing scattered thunderstorms. Isolated flash flooding 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 Apr 12, 5:03 PM MST, 46 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 503 PM PDT Sun Apr 12 2020 CORRECTED AVIATION SECTION .SYNOPSIS...Parts of the area could see showers and isolated thunderstorms through Monday as well as breezy conditions. Dry weather is expected Tuesday through Thursday with temperatures below normal Monday and Tuesday and above normal Wednesday and Thursday. Another system could bring more shower activity and slightly cooler temperatures to the area on Friday before warm and dry weather returns for the weekend. && .SHORT TERM...tonight and Monday. Shower and thunderstorm chances continue this evening across portions of Mohave, Clark, Inyo, southern Nye and northeast San Bernardino counties with chances primarily east of Las Vegas overnight including the Colorado River Valley and Mohave County. Windy conditions in the Western Mojave Desert early in the evening is expected to decrease overnight. On Monday, shower chances linger across portions of Mohave County with dry conditions and below normal temperatures. Winds are forecast to increase late in the afternoon Monday in northern Inyo County, across the Western Mojave Desert and across the southern Great Basin. Tuesday through Saturday...models have a dry northwest flow over the area Tuesday and Wednesday which then transitions to westerly ahead of an approaching upstream system moving south parallel to the coastline. This system could bring another round of showers to the area on Friday. Temperatures remain on the cool side of normal Tuesday before warm back to normal or above Wednesday and Thursday. Next weekend looks dry and mild with above normal temperatures. However, there is some uncertainty with that and this lowers forecast confidence. .AVIATION...For McCarran... Isolated showers and thunderstorms will be possible around the Las Vegas Valley this afternoon and evening, but the chances of thunder within 5 miles of the terminal remains low. However, there is the potential of seeing outflow boundaries that may affect the termainal at times through this evening. Winds could potentially gust up to 30 kts with any outflow boundary that does develop. Ceilings are not likely to drop below 080, unless a brief period of heavy precip occurs. Shower and thunderstorm chances will diminish late tonight with just a few clouds expected Monday. Main concern for Monday will be whether northerly winds will be strong enough to influence runway configuration. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Westerly winds gusting 20 to 30 knots will continue in the Barstow region through Monday morning. This afternoon, showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop from the Owens Valley to the Las Vegas and Laughlin areas to north central Mohave County. The main threats will be erratic, gusty winds, and ceilings down to 080 or lower with associated terrain obscuration. Rain chances will end from west to east this evening through Monday morning, although a few showers could pop up Monday afternoon over the Sierra and over Mohave County. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && DISCUSSION...Salmen AVIATION...Gorelow For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
446 PM PDT SUN APR 12 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0325 PM HAIL 8 S RAILROAD PASS 35.86N 114.93W
04/12/2020 E0.75 INCH CLARK NV PUBLIC
TWITTER REPORT WITH PHOTO OF PENNY SIZED
HAIL COVERING THE ROAD ON HIGHWAY 95 JUST
NORTH OF STATE ROUTE 165.
&&
TB3PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
547 PM PDT SUN APR 12 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0240 PM HAIL 9 S RAILROAD PASS 35.84N 114.93W
04/12/2020 E1.00 INCH CLARK NV PUBLIC
TWITTER VIDEO OF HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN
DIAMETER, ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTH OF THE 95/93
INTERCHANGE.
&&
TB3The Las Vegas radar (KESX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:49 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
AZ Highway 95 was closed near 3rd Street due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, April 2020
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: 878070.