 |
| The last decent snow in Las Vegas in December, 2008. |
Really!
Yet as I celebrate New Years Eve tomorrow, I might be dealing with less snow on the ground than my partying friends in the desert mecca of Las Vegas.
There's barely a dusting of snow on the ground where I live, thanks to a mega Christmas week thaw. But an odd storm is gathering strength, and could dump several inches of snow on many areas of the desert Southwest.
Depending upon how much moisture feeds into the very cold storm system, up to a couple inches of snow could fall on the Las Vegas Strip.
It does snow in Las Vegas every once in awhile, but not often. According to Dennis Mersereau in Gawker's The Vane weather blog, Las Vegas has had measurable snow 29 times over the past 100 years or so.
The most recent snowstorm came on December 17, 2008, when Las Vegas got 3.6 inches of snow. Their biggest storm brought 7.4 inches of snow on January 31, 1979.
This storm looks to be smaller, and there's still a chance Las Vegas, at least the downtown and Strip area, could miss out on most of the snow.
This storm is a turnaround for Las Vegas, which just this week ended its longest continuous streak of temperatures remaining above freezing. It lasted 381 days.
Other areas of the Southwest are also in for a snowy treat. High elevations, but really not that high, are in for snow near Los Angeles and San Diego. It often snows in the highest peaks east of Los Angeles, but the snow level doesn't usually fall to as low as 2,000 feet above sea level.
Winter storm warnings are posted very close to the Los Angeles basin. The National Weather Service says the snow could end up closing heavily traveled routes like Interstates 15, 8 and 10.
The Los Angeles Times says a few inches of snow might cover the normally sunny, warm Antelope Valley. People camping out overnight to get good views of the Rose Parade in Pasadena on New Years Day are urged to dress in layers as overnight temperatures will hover at or just above the freezing mark.
That's just it. Desert areas of California, and the Las Vegas metro area, aren't equipped for snow, since winter storms don't happen very much in that neck of the woods.
It's kind of like what happened in the Deep South last winter, when an inch or two of snow caused all kinds of havoc in places like Georgia, Alabama and far northern Florida.
Even if Las Vegas barely gets a dusting of snow, that could spell trouble. As the Las Vegas Sun notes, about 340,000 visitors are expected in Las Vegas for the New Year's holiday.
People expected desert weather might not be prepared for temperatures of around 30 degrees. And a dusting of snow could really ice up the streets, since Las Vegas doesn't exactly have a zillion salt spreading trucks ready to go.
The cold weather could freeze up water pipes, too, since houses in and around Las Vegas aren't insulated for very cold temperatures.
For the nation as a whole, it's been a very warm December until now, which is a contrast to last year, which was very cold.
But winter is making up for lost time. In addition to the Southwest snow, winter storm warnings are up for much of West Texas because of a forecast mix of freezing rain and sleet Wednesday.
Wind chill advisories are up for a vast area of the Northern Plains.
And that big thaw we had around my home in northwestern Vermont? It's over. After highs near 50 early Sunday morning, the temperature is forecast to only make it into the upper teens today.
No comments:
Post a Comment