Winter storms in the US southwest brought rare snowfall on Thursday to the Las Vegas Strip, dusting casino marquees and prompting revelers to erect a snowman near the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.
The US National Weather Service reported the first significant snowfall at McCarran International Airport in a decade, with 2cm falling by Thursday afternoon.
“We expected cold, but not snow,” tourist Lila de Guerrero said after taking a photo at the Las Vegas sign wearing a puffer coat and hat.
Photo: AFP
De Guerrero, who was visiting from El Salvador, said it was the first time she had ever seen snow.
German tourist Daniela Huber said she was surprised that her vacation to the desert was not much of an escape from winter.
“We thought it was strange because we came from Germany, where it snows all the time,” she said.
Some suburban foothill areas near Las Vegas were pillowy white after getting several centimeters of snow. On the casino-lined Las Vegas Strip, the snow was fleeting.
Outside the city, authorities closed portions of the main routes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and Phoenix because of snow, ice and limited visibility.
The Nevada Department of Transportation reported a 35km line of cars and trucks backed up on Highway 93 between Boulder City, Nevada, and Kingman, Arizona.
Snowstorms also blanketed other parts of the southwest, further easing drought conditions while clogging traffic in California, and forcing the closure of Interstate 40 and an airport in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Barney Helmick, director of the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport, said its only runway closed when the visibility level hit zero.
Intense snow also forced the closure of schools and businesses in the region.
Snow coated large areas of the desert outside Los Angeles and left traffic stalled near Joshua Tree National Park.
Wet weather this winter has almost washed drought conditions out of California, according to the US Drought Monitor.
In Nevada, snow delayed flights and traffic on highways.
“We don’t have snowplows,” an airport spokeswoman said.
Attorney Al Lasso, who moved to Las Vegas from New Jersey 25 years ago, snapped a photo of a ruler standing in 17.8cm of snow on his back patio in the foothill community of Summerlin.
“When it snows in New Jersey, everyone stays inside. When it snows in Las Vegas, everyone goes outside and makes snow angels,” Lasso said.
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