Valley to warm up briefly after wet, wild weekend
After a few days of record-breaking rainfall and flash floods, the Las Vegas Valley is in for some warmer, drier weather — albeit briefly.
Tuesday’s high is forecast at 79 degrees, and this week’s temps are expected to peak Wednesday with a high of 80. After that, they’ll cool back down — Thursday’s high is expected at 78 and Friday’s at 71.
Those last two days will see a 20 percent chance of rain thanks to another storm system headed to the valley at the end of the week, National Weather Service meteorologist Nathan Foster said. The storm is expected to be “cooler and windy” but not as rainy as the one last weekend, he said.
Saturday saw 0.81 inches of rain, which clobbered the date’s previous rain record of 0.17 inches set in 1943, Foster said. Sunday’s rainfall also beat a 1943 record, though much more narrowly — the valley saw 0.14 inches as opposed to the 0.13 inches it saw more than 70 years ago.
The weekend rain caused flooding in many areas of the valley, including the northbound U.S. Highway 95 on-ramp from northbound Interstate 15.
Saturday alone saw 127 crashes on state roads in the valley, 77 of which included property damage and 43 of which included injuries, said Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chelsea Stuenkel. Sunday also saw 81 crashes on the valley’s state roads with 62 involving property damage and 17 involving injury.
Though the rainfall contributed to the crashes, it also bumped Lake Tahoe’s water level to its natural rim for first time since June, officials said. The water’s now over the rim by a half-inch and spilling into the Truckee River, which hasn’t happened since before October 2014.
The lake’s water levels are expected to continue rising this spring thanks to above-average snowpack levels.
The AP contributed to this report. Contact Raven Jackson at rjackson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow her on Twitter @ravenmjackson Contact Christian Bertolaccini at cbertolaccini@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @bertolaccinic
