Rain causes trouble
Valley breaks precipitation record; Spring, Sheep ranges see snow
A wet day in the valley causes crashes, leads to rescues
Widespread rainfall late Tuesday and Wednesday — the first for the Las Vegas Valley in two months — led to water rescues, traffic tie-ups and power outages.
By 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, the valley had broken its rain record for the date: 0.26 inch, set in 1963. As of 9 p.m., 0.53 inch of rain had fallen, said weather service meteorologist Trevor Boucher.
That brought the region’s rainfall total for 2019 to 5.44 inches, Boucher said; the average annual rainfall at the airport is 3.55 inches.
Boulder City received the most rain, with 2 inches in some rain gauges. Henderson received
1 to 2 inches, while the northwest valley had seen 0.4 to 0.8 inch as of 6:45 p.m.
Until late Tuesday, the valley had not seen widespread rainfall since Sept. 23, according to the
weather service.
The storm system brought snow to Mount Charleston and the
Sheep Range, where a winter storm warning was in effect until 4 p.m. Thursday.
“It may very well be the first snow of the season if the last time we got rain was Sept. 23, which had a high in the 90s,” meteorologist Clay Morgan said.
As of 6:30 p.m., the weather service had received reports of about 6 inches of snow in Lee Canyon, National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Gorelow said.
Pea-size hail was reported about 1:45 p.m. in Summerlin, near the 215 Beltway and Charleston Boulevard, and in Centennial Hills in northwest Las Vegas.
The storm
According to the weather service, light rainfall started well before midnight Tuesday in parts of Las Vegas but began to pick up about 5 a.m., moving in from the southwest and spreading across the valley.
By about 7:30 a.m., two people had been rescued from a wash near Pecos Road and East Lake Mead Boulevard, according to the Las Vegas Fire Department. Both were uninjured.
Although most of the rain cleared out by about noon Wednesday, precipitation was expected for the valley through Thursday, Gorelow said. Thursday has a 50 percent chance for scattered showers.
Thursday has a forecast high of 56, followed by highs of 59 on Friday, 61 on Saturday, 63 on Sunday and 64 on Monday. After the storm moves away, the valley should be sunny through the weekend, the weather service said.
The Nevada Highway Patrol responded to 111 crashes between 4 a.m. and about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, more than double the number that generally happen in the valley during dry days. Twenty-eight of the crashes caused injuries, but no one was critically hurt, and five crashes were hit-and-runs, the Highway Patrol said.
Snowfall at Mount Charleston
As heavy snowfall was expected at Mount Charleston on Wednesday, with accumulation generally 4 to 8 inches, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Jason Buratczuk has warned that the first dose of snow in the mountains could bring large crowds to the area this week.
In snowy weather, cars need to be outfitted with chains, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive for Lee and Kyle canyons, he said.
People should make sure they have a full tank of gas and a fully charged cellphone and carry blankets and snacks in case their car breaks down, Buratczuk said.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal. com or at 702-383-0217. Follow @Marv_in_vegas on Twitter. Reviewjournal staff writers Rio Lacanlale and Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.