Strong thunderstorm brings hail to western Las Vegas Valley

Lightning lit the sky Wednesday evening as a thunderstorm passed through the Las Vegas Valley, dumping light hail into some areas.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning, which has since expired, for parts of the northwest and north valley. The storm produced pea-sized hail and several cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, “which made for a very dangerous storm,” meteorologist Alex Boothe said.

Winds were clocked more than 60 mph and as high as 71 mph, he said.

Several trees caught fire Wednesday evening with lightning strikes as a likely culprit, Las Vegas Fire Department tweeted. The Fire Department tweeted that two houses may have been hit by lightning, one of which had scorch marks on the outside.

Several people shared storm and hail photos and videos on social media Wednesday evening.

After Wednesday’s brief but strong storm, valley residents should be able to put away the umbrellas through the weekend.

“Expect a nice little cooldown starting tomorrow,” meteorologist Alex Boothe said Wednesday night.

Thursday should be dry with a high of 90 degrees. Friday shows less than a 10 percent chance of rain and a high of 88 degrees in the valley.

Saturday and Sunday have forecast highs of 88 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter. Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.