Evening light show a preview of more storms to come

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 11:28 a.m.

Southern Nevada residents Thursday experienced lightning and brief rain as thunderstorms struck in a preview of summer storms predicted for the next seven days.

The National Weather Service said most of the storms are expected to be brief afternoon and evening showers.

High temperatures could reach the mid 100s with warmer days expected over the weekend. Meteorologists predicted today's high will hit 104 degrees.

The Clark County Department of Air Quality Management reported today unhealthful levels of ozone at Rainbow Boulevard and Ann Road. The ozone would affect sensitive individuals.

All day Thursday, hot, humid air swirled around the Las Vegas Valley. Afternoon heat triggered the late-day storms and prompted weather service forecasters to issue a flash flood watch from 8 p.m. Thursday until 1 a.m. today. The watch was cancelled at 9:35 p.m.

Lightning flashed over Lake Mead throughout the evening.

But after a Clark County Regional Flood Control District rain gauge at the base of the Sheep Mountains north of Las Vegas recorded almost an inch of rainfall in less than an hour, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for North Las Vegas from 11:30 p.m. Thursday until 2:30 a.m. today. No reports of flooding were reported in the city.

The city of Mesquite, population 9,000 and about an hour's drive northeast of Las Vegas, experienced a two-hour blackout Wednesday night during similar storms, Mesquite emergency manager Jim Brown said. The city's resorts, about 70 miles northeast of Las Vegas, used backup power generators to keep the lights on, he said.