Rare snowstorm in Las Vegas

[Brent]

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAS VEGAS NV
205 PM PST WED DEC 17 2008

CAZ523>526-NVZ016-020-022-180930-
WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT-EASTERN MOJAVE DESERT-MORONGO BASIN-
CADIZ BASIN-NORTHEAST CLARK COUNTY-LAS VEGAS VALLEY-
SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY-
205 PM PST WED DEC 17 2008

...EXTREMELY RARE SNOW EVENT ACROSS THE DESERT SOUTHWEST...

AN UNUSUAL COMBINATION OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE AND COLD...
NORTHERLY...LOW LEVEL AIR HAS PRODUCED A RARE SNOWSTORM ACROSS THE
LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE MOHAVE DESERT...INCLUDING THE LAS VEGAS
VALLEY. THIS SNOWSTORM WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS TO THE LAS
VEGAS VALLEY AS 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW ARE LIKELY AT MOST LOCATIONS
INCLUDING THE LAS VEGAS STRIP. HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE...
PARTICULARLY ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE VALLEY WHERE TOTAL
ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 10 INCHES ARE FORECAST.

THE SNOW BEGAN TO FALL ACROSS MUCH OF THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY EARLY
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS. THIS WILL LIKELY BE THE BIGGEST SNOWSTORM TO IMPACT LAS VEGAS
SINCE 1979...WHEN 7.8 INCHES OF SNOW WAS MEASURED AT MCCARRAN
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

SNOW REMOVAL EQUIPMENT IS EXTREMELY LIMITED IN THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY
AND THE EFFECTS FROM THIS STORM WILL LIKELY LINGER INTO THURSDAY.
TEMPERATURES QUICKLY REBOUND IN MANY INSTANCES FOLLOWING SNOW IN THE
LOWER DESERTS. THIS WILL NOT BE THE CASE ON THURSDAY...AS THE
TEMPERATURE WILL NOT CLIMB OUT OF THE 30S.

ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE LOWER DESERTS...ABOVE 2000 FEET...SNOWFALL OF 6
TO 18 INCHES IS EXPECTED. FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS PLEASE SEE THE
LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING /RNOWSWVEF/.

[PTPatrick]

Per the text message I just got from a friend on the strip, and reports from McCarren APT, it seems to be snowing heavily in downtown Vegas. Of course the NWS is now "nowcasting" so to speak, as the previous forecast did not call for snow in town (even as the snow started to fall when I got his text their forecast still said all rain). Looks like the strip will get close to 4 inches. Average for Vegas is 1 inch per year, but most years none falls. Its so hard to imagine snow in a place that routinely gets to 120 degrees in summer...

[jinftl]

Weather round from Southern California and some other surrounding locations....snowing in Barstow and Edwards AFB even! Very chilly rain in L.A. Basin...Phoenix holding on to milder conditions though.

WEATHER ROUNDUP
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CALIFORNIA
200 PM PST WED DEC 17 2008

L.A. AIRPORT LGT RAIN 48
LONG BEACH LGT RAIN 48
SANTA ANA RAIN 49
STA MONICA APT LGT RAIN 48
BURBANK LGT RAIN 45
VAN NUYS LGT RAIN 44
RIVERSIDE LGT RAIN 44
BIG BEAR AIRPO LGT SNOW 21
LANCASTER SNOW 33
PALMDALE HVY SNOW 33
BARSTOW/DAGGET HVY SNOW 33
EDWARDS AFB SNOW 32
MOJAVE SNOW 32
NEEDLES RAIN 41
VICTORVILLE SNOW 32
BLYTHE LGT RAIN 46
IMPERIAL LGT RAIN 45
PALM SPRINGS HVY RAIN 41
GRAND CANYON, LGT SNOW 27
LAS VEGAS, NV HVY SNOW 33
PHOENIX, AZ PTSUNNY 67
TIJUANA, MEX LGT RAIN 52

[Brent]

That makes me sick, can't even buy one stupid flake here.

UGH! What's next? Snow in Florida and not here?

[Aslkahuna]

Hate to pick nits but Vegas' record high temperature is 118F. OTOH, like Tucson AZ, Vegas has a ski resort to it's immediate west at Mt Charleston which is some 11000 ft high or so (Tucson has Mt. Lemmon to the NE which is 9000+ ft and has the southernmost ski resort in the mainland US). Tucson's snow experience is much like Vegas' occasional events which in the long run average out to about an inch a year. Tucson's (and I believe Vegas') last measureable snow was in January 2007-it also snowed in Phoenix that day and THAT is rare indeed. Although Vegas is very hot in the Summer, it can get quite nippy in the Winter when the windflow brings the icy air off the Great Basin to the north-I know having experienced some cold temperatures on trips to Vegas during Christmas.

Steve

[jinftl]

With that trough out west, the s.e. u.s. is going to be anything but cold...or snowy...under the ridge for now

That makes me sick, can't even buy one stupid flake here.

UGH! What's next? Snow in Florida and not here?

[Brent]

With that trough out west, the s.e. u.s. is going to be anything but cold...or snowy...under the ridge for now

That makes me sick, can't even buy one stupid flake here.

UGH! What's next? Snow in Florida and not here?

Yeah I know... I'm not upset about the warmth, I'm upset that EVERYONE else seemingly is getting snow. Las Vegas averages an inch a year which is what we average(though we went 5 winters without even getting that and barely got that in January).

[PTPatrick]

Sorry about the missprint. I dont live in nor claim to know a whole heck of a lot about vegas, Although when I wrote 120 degrees it was more of a rounding up than anything else, I myself have heard of vegas hitting mid teens plenty, so 120 didnt seem like a stretch.

2000 ft isnt low, and that certainly helps with vegas's snow chances as well. Latitude wise it is about the same as Nashville, and about 1500 ft higher, so no I dont consider it a huge surprise to see it snow there...just another example of the extremes mother nature has to offer out west.

[CajunMama]

That makes me sick, can't even buy one stupid flake here.

UGH! What's next? Snow in Florida and not here?

You do post in the "deep south" thread...whatcha expect!

I should have waited until now to visit vegas. It was 110 when we were there in early august.

[Aslkahuna]

I wasn't dumping on you just being nitpicky in keeping with my status as a grouchy old f**t. Actually, snowfall in Vegas isn't at all common since usually when it rains there the flow is southerly in the low levels and the thickness values are usually not as low as they are right now. Three to six inches is a lot in Vegas though the ski resort 30 miles away and up several thousand feet gets 6-12 feet of snow annually. Vegas' record snowfall came in January 1949 which was mind numbingly cold throughout the West and which saw trace snowfalls in San Diego and Yuma which is really rare. Tucson and Vegas are about the same elevation and we have about the same snow experience. Phoenix is around 1000 ft lower and rarely sees snow-the last time in 2007 which is also Tucson's last snowfall. Ironically, the University of Arizona Wildcat football team is in Vegas right now for the Vegas Bowl game against BYU.

Steve

[PTPatrick]

no biggie A-huna....I actually agree about the cold in Vegas. I have only made one unfortunate trip there and it was December, and it was quite cold. Actually the night we were there we barely wanted to walk the strip because the wind was so cold...

[Cyclenall]

What a intense December this has been so far for North America as a whole! A great picture for an article on this would be that famous sign with it snowing heavily and there being 3 inches of it on the ground. I saw a clip like that on CNN this morning.

[Aslkahuna]

Such a photo has been circulating on the online news sites and also in the Vegas Review-Journal.

Steve

[Ed Mahmoud]

Such a photo has been circulating on the online news sites and also in the Vegas Review-Journal.

Steve

[Cyclenall]

It was more panned out than that but close enough.

[captain east]

What a intense December this has been so far for North America as a whole! A great picture for an article on this would be that famous sign with it snowing heavily and there being 3 inches of it on the ground. I saw a clip like that on CNN this morning.

Not for SE FL, expected 60F low on Christmas and near 80F high, I could probably go to the beach comfortably on Christmas if I wanted to.

[Extremeweatherguy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOM3-huAOYc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRC0yT9X7H8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAy0HdWFkQ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wonDcqVRUcA

[CajunMama]

What a intense December this has been so far for North America as a whole! A great picture for an article on this would be that famous sign with it snowing heavily and there being 3 inches of it on the ground. I saw a clip like that on CNN this morning.

Not for SE FL, expected 60F low on Christmas and near 80F high, I could probably go to the beach comfortably on Christmas if I wanted to.

You do live in southeast florida!

[Cyclenall]

Not for SE FL, expected 60F low on Christmas and near 80F high, I could probably go to the beach comfortably on Christmas if I wanted to.

The concept of going to a warm sunny beach on Christmas Day is completely alien to me. When I was younger, I wondered how anyone could celebrate Christmas while at the beach.

[vbhoutex]

Not for SE FL, expected 60F low on Christmas and near 80F high, I could probably go to the beach comfortably on Christmas if I wanted to.

The concept of going to a warm sunny beach on Christmas Day is completely alien to me. When I was younger, I wondered how anyone could celebrate Christmas while at the beach.

I've done that more than once in my life!! I remember when my Grandmother lived on P'cola Beach and we went out to her house to celebrate. We didn't walk the beach that day because it was way to cold, but many other times I have walked the beach with friends after celebrating Christmas. The water is really too cold to go into unless you are a polar bear imo.