Rainfall trumps 1959 record for Las Vegas

Mother Nature soaked Southern Nevada with record rainfall Monday, and there's more to come, a weather official said.

Monday's rainfall totaled 0.35 inches at McCarran International Airport, the valley's official measuring station, said Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.

Monday's total trumps the old record for the most rainfall on Dec. 20, which was set in 1959 when 0.25 inches fell.

Stachelski said Monday's storm dropped between 0.3 inches and 0.5 inches of rain around the valley, with about 0.25 inches or less falling in Henderson.

The rain has been coming down since Friday because of a low-pressure system from the Pacific Northwest. The meteorologist said valley residents should keep their umbrellas handy because it's only going to get worse.

"The wettest weather is yet to come," Stachelski said. "If people are sick of the rain, they have another two days before it goes away."

A flash flood watch has been issued for Clark County through Wednesday.

Heavy rain in Southern Nevada prompted flood warnings and impeded traffic Monday.

Stachelski said there were minor reports of flooding around Oakey and Decatur boulevards, Durango Drive and Deer Springs Way and Eastern Avenue and Desert Inn Road. There also was flooding at the parking lot at the Imperial Palace, he said.

The weather service on Monday issued a flood warning for northeast Clark County and Beaver Dam Wash in southwest Utah. The Virgin River near Littlefield, Ariz., about 10 miles northeast of Mesquite, is expected to rise above flood stage late this morning and crest tonight or Wednesday morning at 17.4 feet.

Moapa Valley residents also may be affected by Virgin River flooding. The Virgin and Muddy rivers converge at Lake Mead, with the Muddy River flowing directly through the Moapa Valley, about 60 miles north of Las Vegas.

"At this time, a flood warning has not been issued for the Muddy River, however, residents are urged to take precautions," said Clark County's Emergency Manager Irene Navis on Monday. "If the Virgin River is flooding, it may impact the Muddy River as well. We are coordinating closely with a number of public safety agencies and will continue to keep the public informed of developments."

Forecasters expect heavy rains in Lincoln County and Southern Utah to result in several days of high flows in the Virgin River.

As of Monday afternoon, though, city officials for the northeast Clark County community of Mesquite were taking a wait-and-see approach.

Public Works Director Bill Tanner said some equipment would be repositioned, but mostly the city planned to watch the river through Monday night and re-evaluate the conditions this morning.

Tanner added that a host of improvements have been made to the river channel since a damaging flood hit Mesquite in 2005.

That same storm five years ago also washed out the Union Pacific railroad tracks leading to Caliente and caused the Muddy River to jump its banks and inundate homes in Moapa Valley.

Tim Sutko, environmental mitigation manager for the Clark County Regional Flood Control District, said Overton could see some minor flooding this week, but he does not expect anything like what happened in 2005.

That flood was triggered by heavy rain falling on -- and quickly melting -- unseasonably large snow accumulations upstream in Nevada and Utah.

This time, there is no snow, Sutko said.

Traffic around the Red Rock Canyon area in western Clark County was slowed by isolated flooding Monday afternoon. Bonnie Springs Road and Arroyo Road, one of two roads leading to the town of Blue Diamond, were closed because of flooding.

Heavy rain also is expected in the Laughlin area. Bullhead City, Ariz., is under a flash flood watch through Wednesday.

Stachelski said when the rain finally stops late this week, about 2 inches is expected to have accumulated since the storms began Friday. He said that as of Monday, the rainfall total for the year as recorded at McCarran exceeded the yearly average of 4.49 inches. That makes this year the first time since 2005 that rainfall has exceeded the yearly average.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.