Hi All from snowy Las Vegas!
Here's an update since I posted last night. It continued snowing until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. Jerry took some photos while it was still daylight, after dark, and this morning. The one in daylight shows how the Palo Verde tree kept snow off the ground under it. The night photo of our front patio clearly shows snowflakes in the air. The one taken this morning is what the road looked like outside our gate. Jerry and I went for a walk last night about 8:00 p.m. and it was gorgeous with huge snowflakes. The snow was deep enough (a few inches) that it took more effort than usual to walk.
Roads. There were huge numbers of accidents. At one point last night there were more than 140. A couple of the TV stations eliminated their regular programming to report on the weather and traffic all evening. Some of the reporters were commenting that drivers were coming up on intersections at regular speeds and not taking in account reduced driving conditions. But, hey, this is Las Vegas and no one obeys the speed laws or the red lights anyway! The only way out of Las Vegas last night was north on I-15 to Mesquite and Salt Lake City. Railroad Pass on the way to Boulder Dam and Laughlin was closed. I-15 south between Primm and Baker CA was closed. Highway 160 to Pahrump was closed. All the roads up to Mt. Charleston were closed. U.S. 95 in the northwest I believe was also closed farther north out of the valley. In other words, every pass was closed. They hoped to open I-15 south of Primm by noon today. They said on the TV that there are only 12 snowplows in all of Clark County, so it's not surprising the passes were closed. Every time we went outside we could hear sirens, so the police and paramedics had a busy night.
Trees and bushes. All were bent over from the weight of the snow. Some still are, but we're starting to see ponds of water where the snow has started to melt. It's about 41 degrees now. We have one Trichocereus cactus in the front patio that had an inch or so of snow where there normally are blossoms.
Schools. SNOW DAY on Thursday! Never thought I'd see that here.... But, of course, the kids think it's great.
Snowman. Two on our street. One is still inact at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
TV reception. Our satellite dish got full of snow so we couldn't get DirecTV. No signal at all. Jerry changed over to the local TV antenna and we watched local stations.
The Black Mountains in the southeast part of the valley near Railroad Pass are gorgeous! There is snow on them all the way to the valley floor. The sky is blue, the air is clear, and it doesn't look like a desert!
ArdraF
