Las Vegas sees first rainfall in 2020; snow returns to mountains
A winter weather advisory is in place on Mount Charleston on Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The advisory, which covers Spring Mountain and Sheep ranges, is in effect until 4 a.m., according to meteorologist Jenn Varian.
Varian said that as of 9 p.m., Mount Charleston had 1 to 2 inches of snow on the roadways and three to four inches off the roads. She said another 2 to 4 inches are expected overnight.
Roadways may be slick, visibility may be limited and chains may be required for drivers, Varian said.
Down in the valley, Las Vegas saw its first rainfall of the year Sunday night.
A light shower began spitting down over parts of the valley around 9:30 p.m.
In the first hour of Monday morning, the National Weather Service said 0.06 inches of rain had fallen at its Las Vegas office. It said 0.04 inches had been recorded at McCarran International Airport, the official recording station for the Las Vegas Valley.
At midnight, our office measured 0.06" of rain!
…and it keeps falling! 🌧️ @LASairport, the official #LasVegas rainfall observation, received 0.04"!
Light showers remain possible for Las Vegas over the next few hours.#VegasWeather #NvWx pic.twitter.com/3mqAG09fxH
— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) February 10, 2020
The far southern and western areas of the valley could see light flurries overnight, though the weather service said it’s unlikely to stick.
The valley is also expecting some wind to start off the week, but nothing like the gusts seen up by Lake Tahoe on Sunday morning.
At 7:45 a.m., a wind sensor at the Kirkwood Mountain Resort in Kirkwood, California, measured a wind gust of 209 mph – 10 mph higher than the official record, according to the National Weather Service’s Reno office.
Evan LaGuardia, a meteorologist at the Reno office, said the Lake Tahoe area is prone to strong northeasterly winds, but Sunday brought stronger gusts than usual. He said the Kirkwood resort was shut down because of the weather, so no experts had been up to verify the high reading or to check for damage in the area as of Sunday evening.
LaGuardia explained that there was an official process necessary to validate the 209 mph reading and that experts would likely head up to the area on Monday morning to start that process.
The weather service’s Las Vegas office said the valley can expect much calmer winds, staying in the 15 to 25 mph range Sunday and Monday.
Meteorologist Barry Pierce said the winds should increase to 20 to 30 mph on Monday night, carrying into Tuesday morning.
Sunday reached a high of 56 degrees, according to the weather service.
Monday should jump up to 62 and Tuesday should drop down to 59, the weather service said. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are expected to climb to 62, 63 and 64, respectively.
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.