Parts of valley hit by rain, power outages

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000 | 11:09 a.m.

A storm system caused power outages and blowing dust on Wednesday but produced little rain in the Las Vegas Valley, the National Weather Service reported.

The storm blacked out up to 2,000 Nevada Power Co. customers across the valley after 3:30 p.m., company spokeswoman Sonya Headon said. Power was fully restored by 8 p.m. Wednesday.

The Weather Service issued a flash flood warning from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for the extreme southern tip of Nevada and Lake Mohave in the areas of Cottonwood Cove and Willow Beach, meteorologist John Adair said.

Thunderclouds moved northeast from Southern California and Arizona across Southern Nevada at about 15 mph, Adair said.

Isolated showers fell in Henderson, the southwest and western parts of the valley.

Officially, a trace of rain fell at McCarran International Airport between 5 and 6 p.m. Parts of Henderson received a half-inch of rain.

At the Weather Service station at Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15, a gust of wind clocked at 45 mph raised swirling dust at 3:10 p.m., Adair said. The weather station lost its power after a nearby lightning strike and relied on backup generators for more than an hour.

There is a chance of afternoon and evening thundershowers for the next three days.