August 21, 2014 - Severe Storms across southeast California and southwest Arizona

Severe Storms Across SE California & SW Arizona Thursday August 21, 2014

Updated: 9pm Friday August 22 2014

A relatively strong upper level low for the month of August dipped southeastward into southern California early Thursday morning while also pulling moisture northward into southeast California and southern Arizona ahead of the low. Thunderstorms first developed just after noon on Thursday and quickly spread and intensified across much of southeast California and southwest Arizona through the rest of the afternoon. The strongest thunderstorms affected Imperial county California and Yuma and La Paz counties in Arizona. Strong winds in excess of 60 mph and hail up to one inch were reported in some of these severe thunderstorms. In addition, heavy rainfall of up to around two inches fell in some locations which caused flooding of lowland areas and dry washes and led to some road closures.

Yuma Radar Imagery: Click each image for a larger view


Yuma radar reflectivity loop from 1:15pm to 5:45pm	Yuma radar velocity loop from 1:15pm to 5:45pm Note: greens show winds moving toward the radar & reds away

Click each image for a larger view


Radar Estimated Storm Total Rainfall	Visible Satellite Loop from 2:30pm to 6:45pm

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Shelf Cloud along Hwy 95 (Image courtesy Mike Olbinski via Facebook)	Heavy rain near Holtville CA (Image courtesy Frank Miranda via Facebook)

Storm Reports


 ..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
 ..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
             ..REMARKS..
 
 0138 PM     HEAVY RAIN       1 WSW IMPERIAL          32.83N 115.58W
 08/21/2014  M1.15 INCH       IMPERIAL           CA   ASOS            
 
             1.15 INCHES RAINFALL MEASURED AT IMPERIAL COUNTY 
             AIRPORT KIPL IN 35 MINUTES. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL 
             CONTINUES AT TIME OF LSR ISSUANCE. 
 
 0145 PM     HAIL             EL CENTRO               32.79N 115.56W
 08/21/2014  E0.75 INCH       IMPERIAL           CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
             DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY CHP 
 
 0200 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 ESE IMPERIAL          32.83N 115.50W
 08/21/2014                   IMPERIAL           CA   TRAINED SPOTTER 
 
             MULTIPLE TELEPHONE POLES DOWN ALONG HWY 111 NEAR 
             WORTHINGTON ROAD. SEMI TRAILER ALSO OVERTURNED ON THE 
             ROAD...EMERGENCY CREWS ON SCENE. 
 
 0200 PM     DUST STORM       EL CENTRO               32.79N 115.56W
 08/21/2014                   IMPERIAL           CA   LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
             VISIBILITY 0 FEET REPORTED BY CHP 
 
 0227 PM     FLOOD            2 NE IMPERIAL           32.87N 115.54W
 08/21/2014                   IMPERIAL           CA   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
 
             ROADWAY FLOODING AT THE INTERSECTION OF RALPH ROAD AND 
             DOGWOOD ROAD NORTH-NORTHEAST OF IMPERIAL. 
 
 0311 PM     HAIL             6 N KINTER              32.85N 114.40W
 08/21/2014  M1.00 INCH       YUMA               AZ   OTHER FEDERAL   
 
             METEOROLOGIST WITH YUMA PROVING GROUND REPORTED 1 INCH 
             HAIL. 
 
 0335 PM     TSTM WND DMG     PALO VERDE              33.43N 114.73W
 08/21/2014                   IMPERIAL           CA   TRAINED SPOTTER 
 
             REPORTS OF TREES SNAPPED AND DOWNED AT RESIDENCE WITH 
             ESTIMATED 60 TO 65 MPH WINDS. ALSO REPORTED THICK 
             BLOWING DUST BEFORE HEAVY RAINFALL AND STORM WINDS 
             BEGAN. POWER OUT AT LOCATION. 
 
 0415 PM     FLOOD            12 NE YUMA PROVING GROU 33.22N 114.26W
 08/21/2014                   YUMA               AZ   TRAINED SPOTTER 
 
             ROADWAY FLOODING ALONG US 95 SOUTH OF QUARTZSITE. 
             SPOTTER REPORTS ROADWAY IMPASSABLE ESTIMATED 30 TO 32 S 
             OF QUARTZSITE. ADOT ALSO REPORTS WATER ALONG THE ROADWAY 
             BETWEEN SEVERAL MILE POSTS...ROAD CLOSURE AT MP 72. 
             EVENT TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR WHEN HEAVIEST RAINFALL 
             OCCURRED ALONG HWY 95 AND OVER SEVERAL DRAINAGES IN THE 
             AREA. 
 
 0445 PM     TSTM WND DMG     YUMA                    32.68N 114.62W
 08/21/2014                   YUMA               AZ   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
 
             YUMA FIRE REPORTS DOWNED POWER LINES ON ARIZONA AVE AT 
             26TH STREET. 
 
 0500 PM     TSTM WND DMG     YUMA                    32.68N 114.62W
 08/21/2014                   YUMA               AZ   AMATEUR RADIO   
 
             MULTIPLE REPORTS OF DOWNED POWER LINES ALONG WITH 
             SEVERAL INTERSECTIONS WITH STREET LIGHTS OUT ACROSS THE 
             CITY OF YUMA.