Ok, that’s stretching the truth….
Not only did Boo break her arm on Wednesday (that’s another post), but a strong cold front roared into Syzdekistan on Tuesday night. As I comforted my little girl as she threw up late into the evening, the wind shrieked and howled and could hear it ripping shingles from the roof. I called in a weather spotter report (I’m an official spotter for the Weather Service).
So the next day, the weather service listed my call in their Storm Damage Report. They listed it twice, which seems really common. The results are often perfect duplicates. It seems that they enter the report in two systems. The next time I do my refresher training I’ll have to ask about how those reports are generated.
The local newspaper mentioned the damage as well. I’m pretty sure that were referring to my house.
As for the damage, I lost about 7 whole shingles and several others were damaged. Coupled with the wind damage from about two weeks ago (which I ran out of replacement shingles for repairs), this is about the fifth time I’ve had wind damage to the roof. There are several factors at play. One is that I have one of the tallest houses in the neighborhood and winds from the west funnel between two other houses and blast the peak of the second story roof. I’m guessing (and the forecaster I talked to asked), that the winds were probably in the 50 mile per hour range which isn’t too extreme. I believe the shingles are rated for 90 mile per hour winds.
I think more importantly, the damage I keep getting is due to installation. There are two factors involved. One is that the shingles were installed over a previous layer of shingles. This is within the building code but it causes them to not lie as flat as they should. Furthermore, the installer only used 4 nails per shingle while 6 should be used in high wind areas. In the ever increasing areas of the roof where I have replaced shingles, I have used 6 nails and I haven’t lost any of those shingles. Here is some information on wind and shingles from Florida.
Also of interest, with the cold air in place the next day many areas in Vegas saw some snow flurries. I saw some flakes driving Boo home from the orthopedist. At 11:40 AM the temperarture was 44 degrees which is pretty darn cool here for April 15. About 10 or 15 years ago I remember flurries on Tax day in the foothills near Henderson.
Of course, next week will see highs around 90. Spring is here.
Public Information Statement
Statement as of 12:20 PM PDT on April 15, 2009… A rare late season sight in the Las Vegas Valley in April…
An unseasonably cold upper level low located over central Nevada
brought an unusual sight to parts of the Las Vegas Valley Wednesday
morning… snow! Most of the snow that fell was very light and in
many instances mixed with rain. There were no reports of any snow
accumulating. A few showers moved southeast across the Las Vegas
Valley mainly between 6 am and 7 am PDT today producing the first
reports of snow on the west and southwest side of the Las Vegas
Valley. Scattered showers produced snow as recently as 11 am PDT
today.Snow was observed so far in Summerlin… near the intersection of the
215 beltway and Charleston Blvd as well as near 215 and Summerlin
parkway… in the mountains edge community in southwest Las Vegas as
well as in neighborhoods just south of Summerlin. These locations
are generally between 2700 and 3200 feet in elevation.No snow has been observed so far today at McCarran International
Airport… the official climate location for Las Vegas. So officially
today so far… there was no snow in Las Vegas.Since this is Las Vegas and people often like to talk about the odds
of something… the latest snow has every been reported in official
Las Vegas climate records was on April 4th 1958. According to the
official observing forms though… this was reported to be snow
pellets. The latest true snow flakes have ever fallen in Las Vegas
based on official observing forms was on March 14th 1975. Although
our official records show several dates with traces of snow later in
March… these were all traces of frozen precipitation such as snow
pellets or hail… which by official climate records count as a
trace of snow.It should be noted that while there are no official records kept of
the earliest and latest dates snow has ever been reported in the Las
Vegas Valley overall using any location… the 2008-2009 season may
very well be it. Back on October 11th of 2008… snow was observed
briefly in Summerlin. The growth of the Las Vegas Valley further out
into elevations higher than our official climate station is at
results in snow being observed more frequently than at our official
climate location.
04/14/2009 0630 PM
5 miles NE of Boulder City, Clark County.
Thunderstorm wind damage, reported by newspaper.
Several boats were damaged at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor
on Lake Mead. Boat docks were also damaged.
04/14/2009 0700 PM
Mt. Charleston, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind damage, reported by newspaper.
500 customers lost power on Mount Charleston. The event
time was estimated.
04/14/2009 0725 PM
North Las Vegas apder city, Clark County.
Thunderstorm wind gust M59.00 mph, reported by ASOS.
A 59 mph wind gust was recorded at the North Las Vegas
Airport.
04/14/2009 0736 PM
1 miles ESE of Las Vegas neder city, Clark County.
Thunderstorm wind gust m63.00 mph, reported by ASOS.
A 63 mph wind gust was measured at the Nellis Air Force
base ASOS site which is located at an elevation of 1870
feet. Sustained winds of 51 mph were also recorded.
04/14/2009 0830 PM
N desert NWR RAWS, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind gust m75.00 mph, reported by mesonet.
04/14/2009 0944 PM
6 miles WSW of DOWNTOWN LASERT ROCK VEGAS NEDER, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind damage, reported by TRAINED SPOTTER.
SHINGLES WERE RIPPED OFF THE ROOF OF A HOUSE NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF SAHARA AVENUE AND RAINBOW BOULEVARD IN
LAS VEGAS.
04/14/2009 0434 PM
4 miles NNW of blue diamondependenceependence, Clark County.
Thunderstorm wind gust m61.00 mph, reported by mesonet.
Measured at The Red Rock mesowest site located at an
elevation of 3756 feet.
04/14/2009 1128 PM
2 miles SSE of Logandale, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind damage, reported by trained spotter.
A 50 yard long steel framed Canvas Vendor tent was
destroyed due to strong wind gusts. The steel girders
were twisted and deformed.
04/15/2009 0630 am
Mt. Charleston, Clark County.
Snow m5.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.
The Mount Charleston co-op observer reported 5.0 inches
of snow fell at an elevation of 7600 feet. The end time
of the snow was based on radar.
04/15/2009 0630 am
4 miles WSW of NWS las vegal 5b (ntsandale, Clark County.
Snow e0.0 inch, reported by NWS employee.
A few snow flurries fell in the mountains edge community
in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley at an
elevation of around 2700 feet.
04/15/2009 0630 am
5 miles WNW of Kyle Canyon las vegal 5b (ntsand, Clark County.
Heavy snow m12.0 inch, reported by public.
The Las Vegas ski and snowboard resort reported 12.0
inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8800 feet. The end
time of this report was estimated based on radar.
04/15/2009 0700 am
Red Rock Canyon, Clark County.
Snow m2.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.
The Red Rock canyon co-op observer reported 2.0 inches of
snow fell ending at 7 am PDT today at an elevation of
3780 feet.
04/15/2009 0710 am
5 miles NW of Spring valleyhe, Clark County.
Snow e0.0 inch, reported by NWS employee.
Snow mixed with rain was reported by an off-duty NWS
employee in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley
around 2900 feet in elevation.
04/15/2009 0630 am
5 miles WNW of Kyle Canyon l 5b (nts, Clark County.
Heavy snow m12.0 inch, reported by public.
The Las Vegas ski and snowboard resort reported 12.0
inches of snow fell at an elevation of 8800 feet. The end
time of this report was estimated based on radar.
04/15/2009 0630 am
Mt. Charleston, Clark County.
Snow m5.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.
The Mount Charleston co-op observer reported 5.0 inches
of snow fell at an elevation of 7600 feet. The end time
of the snow was based on radar.
04/15/2009 0630 am
4 miles WSW of NWS las vegae canyon l 5b (nts, Clark County.
Snow e0.0 inch, reported by NWS employee.
A few snow flurries fell in the mountains edge community
in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley at an
elevation of around 2700 feet.
04/15/2009 0700 am
Red Rock Canyon, Clark County.
Snow m2.0 inch, reported by co-op observer.
The Red Rock canyon co-op observer reported 2.0 inches of
snow fell ending at 7 am PDT today at an elevation of
3780 feet.
04/15/2009 0710 am
5 miles NW of Spring valleyhe, Clark County.
Snow e0.0 inch, reported by NWS employee.
Snow mixed with rain was reported by an off-duty NWS
employee in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley
around 2900 feet in elevation.
04/14/2009 0434 PM
4 miles NNW of blue diamondependence, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind gust m61.00 mph, reported by mesonet.
Measured at The Red Rock mesowest site located at an
elevation of 3756 feet.
04/14/2009 0830 PM
N desert NWR RAWS, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind gust e75.00 mph, reported by mesonet.
04/14/2009 0944 PM
6 miles NW of Las Vegas mcc, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind damage, reported by trained spotter.
Spotter lv-13 reported that strong wind gusts blew
several shingles off his roof.
04/14/2009 1128 PM
2 miles SSE of Logandale, Clark County.
Non-thunderstorm wind damage, reported by trained spotter.
A 50 yard long steel framed Canvas Vendor tent was
destroyed due to strong wind gusts. The steel girders
were twisted and deformed.
Public Information Statement
Statement as of 9:17 am PDT on April 8, 2009
… Another round of gusty winds in the Mojave Desert and southern
Great Basin…
A core of stronger winds aloft combined with a tight surface
pressure gradient ahead of an approaching area of low pressure off
the California coast generated gusty south to southwest winds across
the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin during the afternoon and
evening hours on Tuesday. Below is a list of the peak wind gusts
from locations that reached at least advisory level wind speeds for
at least 3 hours. Appreciation is extended to our mesonet partners
for many of these reports.
Location elevation peak wind gust
———————————————————————
… Inyo County…
Sierra rotors site 2 4842 feet 58 mph
Sierra rotors site 16 3728 feet 52 mph
Sierra rotors site 12 3731 feet 52 mph
Sierra rotors site 11 3761 feet 52 mph
Oak Creek RAWS 4900 feet 50 mph
Bishop Airport 4145 feet 48 mph
… San Bernardino County deserts…
Barstow-Daggett ap 1929 feet 52 mph
Opal Mountain RAWS 4900 feet 44 mph
… Esmeralda County…
Dyer 4883 feet 44 mph
… Central and southern Nye County…
area 16 east/nts 4558 feet 52 mph
Mercury mesonet site 3676 feet 52 mph
rebound Meda/nts 3990 feet 50 mph
Pahrump/cw9143 mesonet 2540 feet 49 mph
area 3 north/nts 4130 feet 48 mph
rebound angle Road/nts 3994 feet 48 mph
Mid Valley a14/nts 4612 feet 47 mph
area 1/nts 4149 feet 45 mph
area 5 north/nts 3164 feet 45 mph
