Snow Storm in Sin City

If I told you there were eight inches of snow in my backyard, you probably wouldn't consider it such a big deal. If I told you that I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, you might get more interested. Yesterday an average of six inches of snow fell all over the valley. Snow had been falling on the out skirts of town since Monday but no one expected it to fall in center city. I've lived in the valley for the last 20 years and have never seen so much snow fall. Usually when this desert city sees snow it is in the early morning and melted away by noon. This was a different kind of storm all together. The news reported a winter storm watch from early Wednesday to 4pm Thursday afternoon.

In the northern parts of the country this amount of snow would be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Here in Las Vegas we aren't exactly equipped with snow plows and salt. Drivers, many of whom have lived in the southwest for most of their lives, aren't prepared for driving in snowy conditions. The storm covered the sky in a white blanket and made it hard for drivers to see ahead of them. The melting snow caused a slate colored slush to build up in the streets and slow traffic. Close to 50 traffic accidents were reported but that's not average for the metropolis. More troubling were the freeway closures along the I-15 out of the valley to California and Utah.

NV Energy announced that power was lost along Rancho Drive and Valley View Boulevard, Rancho Drive and Washington Avenue; Desert Inn Road, near Maryland Parkway, Mohave Avenue, Pecos Road, Eastern Avenue, Boulder Highway and Seneca Street; Lake; Washington Avenue and Martin Luther King Blvd; Mead Parkway and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Metro police officers were directing traffic where the outages affected the lights. Many residents also experienced temporary power outages. NV Energy has said they aren't exactly sure what cause the outages.

Even though the snow stopped falling around ten o'clock Wednesday night, the school districts announced that school would be cancelled for the first time in thirty years. Students, teachers, and bus drivers did not have to report to work, but administration personnel did. No doubt school children may be rejoicing about a day off there is talk about having a make up day later in the year.

Even the tourism economy was affected as the Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop that halted flights in and out of McCarran international airport. With tourism as the mainstay of Las Vegas' economy the airport, which is the seventh busiest airport in the country, was bustling with many stranded travelers. Arriving and departing flights resumed activity at about 6am this morning.

Although not a big storm compared to those found in much colder climates this storm brought the most snow (in the month of December) to the Las Vegas valley since1937, when the national weather service began to officially keeping track. For me, and many others, this was the closest thing to a white Christmas I can hope for.