Storm knocks out power, drops inch of rain

Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 | 9:45 a.m.

Monsoons moving back into Southern Nevada overnight sparked thunderstorms that dropped more than an inch of rain in eastern Las Vegas and knocked out power to thousands of residents.

At least 3,000 Nevada Power Co. customers were in a blackout as lightning and gusty winds swept across the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonya Headen said.

Power lines -- some of them live wires -- and power poles were reported down as the storms generated winds from 30 mph to 45 mph throughout the valley.

Headen said Nevada Power crews were responding as quickly as possible, but Las Vegas Fire & Rescue crews let a high voltage pole on fire at the 2100 block of Berkley Avenue burn until repairmen arrived.

A major outage occurred on West Sahara Avenue west of Palace Station. There was another outage north of Carey Avenue south to Nellis Boulevard and west to Lake Mead Boulevard, Headen said. The third outage occurred in North Las Vegas, extending south from Carrol Street, eastward to North Pecos Road, westward to Las Vegas Boulevard and included some parts of Lake Mead Boulevard.

A light pole at Arville Street and Oakey Boulevard shut down the intersection, Metro Police Lt. Dave Braden said. A power pole was reported on fire at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Reno Avenue at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip.

A Regional Flood Control District monitor recorded 1.05 inches of rain at 11 p.m. Thursday night at Nellis and Lamb boulevards.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning until 11:45 p.m. Thursday from the Valley of Fire to Callville Bay on Lake Mead, meteorologist Andy Bailey said.

A small urban stream advisory was issued for the Las Vegas Valley.

"We had some pretty good thunderstorm roll through here," Bailey said.

Thundershowers subsided after midnight.

The return of seasonal thundershower activity is expected to drop Las Vegas Valley daytime temperatures 10 degrees today, breaking the heat wave that has gripped the valley this week.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jon Adair said the high temperature today was expected to reach 102 degrees, after a record high this year of 112 degrees on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms are expected to scatter across the valley and the surrounding mountains today and Saturday, especially in the afternoons and evenings, Adair said.

If the showers develop as expected, the high temperature for Las Vegas is expected to be 98 degrees on Saturday.

Those summer storms could produce locally heavy rainfall and there is a potential for flash flooding, Adair said.

The good news is that enough water is contained in the storm clouds to prevent a lightning strike from sparking a wildland fire in the forests of the Spring Mountains, Adair said.

Thunderstorms developed all around the valley Thursday night, over Mesquite, about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, over Lake Mead southeast of the valley and into Southern California, Adair said.

As thunderclouds collapsed, winds from the dying storms swept into the valley, but the moisture was riding a southerly flow of wind, Adair said.

Late Sunday Southern Nevada is expected to dry out and daytime temperatures will stabilize to August averages ranging from 102 to 104 degrees.