Winter storm pounds Vegas

Monday, Feb. 21, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

Winter slammed into Southern Nevada today with steady rain pounding city streets and snow falling in the Spring Mountains west of the Las Vegas Valley, launching a series of storms that could continue all week.

Flooding was reported on many city streets, and the Charleston Underpass west of Main Street was closed after it was swamped at dawn, the National Weather Service said. With today a federal holiday, many people stayed home and no one was trapped in the flooded underpass, which had reached almost 12 feet of water by midmorning.

The weather service issued a small stream and flood advisory for the valley about 7:15 a.m. today.

Several minor accidents were reported due to the rain, including a three-car pileup on U.S. 95 southbound near Las Vegas Boulevard that resulted in eight people receiving minor injuries, the Las Vegas Fire Department reported.

Desert Inn Road at Durango turned into an urban river at 6:30 a.m. as muddy floodwaters rushed out of the Spring Mountains.

Incoming flights to McCarran International Airport were delayed this morning because of the storms in Nevada and California.

The weather service predicted rain in the Las Vegas Valley into this evening with a chance of thunderstorms and a high of 57 degrees. The powerful storm system pounded Southern California with rain, snow and strong winds Sunday night, and that foul weather was expected to bring the possibility of more rain to Nevada after Tuesday.

While Southern Nevada's winter had been mild and dry until last week, the weather service said the storms brought rainfall totals closer to normal for the year. Normally the valley receives 0.86 of an inch by this time. So far, the total is 0.55 of an inch.

While the official rain gauge at McCarran International Airport recorded 0.12 of an inch in 24 hours as of 6 a.m. today, Summerlin on the west side of the valley reported about an inch of rainfall mixed with pea-sized hail. When heavier rain falls on the western side of the valley, which is upstream from the Las Vegas Wash in the east, where runoff flows on its way to Lake Mead, flooding can occur in places where no rain is falling.

The Nevada Division of Forestry reported more than a foot of snow at Mount Charleston overnight, and Lee Canyon to the north of Charleston in the Spring Mountains recorded 2 feet of fresh powder. The area could receive another foot of snow today.

Visitors at the top of the Stratosphere Tower, more than 1,000 feet above the valley's floor, watched as snow flurries swirled in the air about 11 p.m. Sunday, but fell as rain on the pavement at Las Vegas Boulevard South near Sahara Avenue.

While mudslides plagued Southern California, in other parts of the country an avalanche killed a skier and a snowboarder over the weekend in New England's mountains. No avalanche warnings or watches had been posted for the Spring Mountains, local weather service forecasters said. But an avalanche was reported at Lee Canyon this morning with no injuries or deaths.

Chains were required in some mountain areas, including Mount Charleston. The mountain's two-lane road was closed Sunday and could close again today if snows continued, weather forecasters said.

A series of cold storm systems racing down from Alaska caused the National Weather Service to issue a storm watch in Southern California's mountains, and a flash flood warning was in effect in San Diego County at higher elevations. Flash flood watches were issued for areas burned last year by wildfires, especially in central California near the coast.

Forecasters expected the snow level to drop as low as 4,000 feet by today in the California mountains, with those areas possibly getting up to 4 inches of snow by tonight. A foot of snow could drop by late tonight in elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, said meteorologist Bruce Rockwell.

"Winter has arrived with a vengeance in Southern California, finally," Dan Atkin, a weather service meteorologist in San Diego, said Sunday.

The storms originated in the Gulf of Alaska and are packing cold, moist air, forecasters said. A brief clearing was expected Tuesday with another storm moving in Wednesday afternoon.

The first of the series began about 4 a.m. Sunday in Southern Nevada and dumped up to three-quarters of an inch of rain at Summerlin.

By 9 a.m. Sunday the California Highway Patrol had responded to about 150 crashes in Los Angeles County, although no serious injuries were reported.

"We're extremely busy today," Officer Frank Sansone said on Sunday.

Rain may have caused a 7-foot-wide pothole on the Golden State Freeway, causing several blowouts but no injuries, Sansone said. Road crews were called in to repair it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.