Winter returns; more cold on way

Ed Koch and Angela Soo

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

Spoiled by unseasonably good weather for much of the early winter, Southern Nevadans from Las Vegas to Primm buckled up their coats today and dodged sporadic snowflakes.

A seasonable storm sweeping down from the Gulf of Alaska clipped Clark County today, dropping an inch of snow on Mount Charleston and dusting areas like Summerlin, Blue Diamond Ridge and Primm with white powder, the National Weather Service at McCarran International Airport said.

"We've been spoiled by the good weather -- it's about time we got regular winter weather," said Paul Skrbac, a weather service meteorologist. "This system is moving off today, but we have a similar system coming in tonight, so we could see more of the same tomorrow in the western suburbs."

Southeast San Bernardino, Calif., and northwest Arizona got most of the snowfall, with just the edge of Nevada getting caught in the path of the system, Skrbac said.

Although some flurries were reported in parts of Primm, not everyone saw them, including people working outdoors.

"I didn't see any snow except for the snow on the mountains," said Seray Pineda, who works as a valet at the Primm Valley Resort and Casino in Primm and commutes there daily from Las Vegas. He started his shift at 7 a.m.

In the Las Vegas Valley, high temperatures were expected around 50 today -- about eight degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. Parts of the valley had light rain before sunrise, but hardly enough to warrant that car windshield wipers be turned on.

As the morning wore on, the sun attempted to peer through mostly cloudy skies.