Today’s thunderstorms in Las Vegas were unpredicted by the National Weather Service. The moisture came in faster than expected with dewpoints climbing as moist air pushed into the area from the Sea of Cortez. Here is what they had to say in the Forecaster Discussion:
Previous discussion…232 PM short term…moisture increase occurred much more quickly than expected. Radar showed scattered thunderstorms along and east of a line from the Nevada test site to the morongo basin as of 2 PM. Expect these to weaken after sunset…but a few may persist overnight due to numerous outflow boundary collisions. The pattern should persist through much of the short term…so raised probability of precipitation over the eastern zones each day through Thursday. Future shifts may need to re-raise depending on the eventual track of the weak low pressure system over far Southern California and the developing trough off the northern California coast. High temperatures will trend down each day as moisture and clouds become the dominant factors.
Downtown about 3:30 PM we enjoyed a nice shower with some lightning. At five, I left to pick up Boo at school who was still traumatized by the afternoon lightning. We had some light showers here at the house until about 7:00 p.m. and received a total of 0.06 inches. Total for the year is now 1.27 inches.
A nearby flood control gage recorded 0.04 inches so I am wondering if my gage is reading a little high. It is mounted with the lip only about an inch above a block wall so I could be getting additional rain splashing into the mouth of the gauge. The flood control gage reading was of 5:00 p.m. so it is possible I got 0.02 inches more after 5 p.m. Usually the readings are extremely close. My automatic gage has a resolution of 0.04 and measured 0.04. Total on my manual gage for the year is pretty low at 1.27 inches.
Some other parts of town saw street flooding and one observer saw 0.25 inches of rain in 5 minutes. Hot Wife hit some very hard rain driving home from her new job.
Here are the storm totals:
Rainfall totals through 5pm PDT from thunderstorms today…
Thunderstorms developed across parts of the Mojave Desert and
southern Great Basin Monday afternoon. Just about all of the Las
Vegas Valley received rain today… however… amounts varied greatly
from location to location. Totals below are through 5pm PDT.… Las Vegas Valley..
Sloan channel at Charleston Boulevard /east side/… ..0.71 inches
Van Buskirk Detention Basin /east side/… … … … … 0.31 inches
desert inn at Las Vegas Blvd… … … … … … … … ..0.28 inches
Flamingo wash /east side/… … … … … … … … … ..0.28 inches
Fossil Ridge /far NW valley/… … … … … … … … ..0.28 inches
Lone Mountain… … … … … … … … … … … … … ..0.28 inches
Meadows drainage basin… … … … … … … … … … ..0.28 inches
Yucca Gap… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 0.27 inches
beltway channel and Cheyenne /west side/… … … … ..0.16 inches
Nellis Air Force base ASOS… … … … … … … … … .0.14 inches
downtown Las Vegas… … … … … … … … … … … … 0.04 inches
Rainbow and oakey… … … … … … … … … … … … .0.04 inches
Las Vegas NWS office… … … … … … … … … … … .0.03 inches
McCarran International Airport… … … … … … … … 0.03 inches
North Las Vegas Airport… … … … … … … … … … .trace
