Storms hit valley, set records
Records were broken Wednesday as Mother Nature brought in cooler temperatures and doused Clark County with rain.
Andrew Gorelow, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, said McCarran International Airport, the valley's official measuring station, recorded 0.25 inches of rain.
The rainfall marked a record for Sept. 14, besting the previous high of 0.17 inches set in 1961 and also measured at McCarran.
However, other areas in the southwest, northwest and east regions of the Las Vegas Valley received more rain, causing some street flooding.
Gorelow said a few rain gauges recorded more than an inch of rain, including 1.65 inches measured at detention basin at Fort Apache Road and Peace Way, in the southwest valley.
Gorelow added Wednesday's high temperature of 77 degrees was also a record for the lowest-high temperature ever for Sept. 14. The previous record was 82 degrees set in 1978.
Forecasters expect the storm system to move out of the Las Vegas Valley today.
They predict a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms today with calm winds and a high temperature of 89 degrees. The rain is expected to move out of the valley with highs of 90 on Friday and Saturday and 93 on Sunday.
Slow-moving thunderstorms caused flash flooding Wednesday. Half an inch of rain fell at the Las Vegas Beltway and Flamingo Road in 20 minutes in the afternoon, the weather service said.
Sgt. Kevin Honea with the Nevada Highway Patrol said that a few cars became stuck on an offramp in that area because water levels were so high. Troopers closed the offramp, waited for the water levels to subside and then pushed a few cars off the ramp, he said. .
On the other side of the valley, the Desert Rose Golf Course, near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, was closed Wednesday because of flooding, county officials said.
The course is expected to reopen Saturday.
Contact Antonio Planas at aplanas@review journal.com or 702-383-4638.
