Storms slide by Las Vegas; heat returns in the wake

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

The Las Vegas Valley dodged a storm-packed bullet Tuesday, but it was in the bull's-eye for hotter than normal temperatures today.

Temperatures reached 101 degrees Tuesday, three degrees below the normal average of 104 degrees, before summer storms blotted out the sun during the afternoon.

The thunderstorms mushroomed above the mountain ranges ringing the valley Tuesday afternoon, but none of the rain, hail or lightning struck urban areas, National Weather Service forecaster Stan Czyzyk said.

Most of the activity from the storms stayed in the Mojave Desert southwest of Las Vegas or the Spring Mountains west of the valley and the Sheep Mountains to the north.

Shortly after noon thunderheads ballooned over the Spring Mountains, covering the blue sky with towering black clouds. The Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of Clark County from noon until 12:45 p.m. and then again from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

There were no reports of flooding by the Nevada Highway Patrol or the California Highway Patrol along Interstate 15.

Today's high was expected to reach 107 degrees with no further thunderstorms expected until late Thursday or Friday,

From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday the valley's temperature dropped seven degrees as the storms moved from west to east of Las Vegas, from 100 degrees to 93 degrees, the Weather Service said.

Instead, lightning sparked a new, 3-acre wildfire in Trout Canyon, southwest of Las Vegas and on the western side of the Spring Mountains.

A combined federal firefighting force of two air tankers, two hot-shot crews and two trucks fought the Trout Canyon blaze, said spokeswomen from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

Elsewhere, wildfires ignited by lightning in southern Utah and northwestern Arizona were closer to containment Tuesday, an official said. The spread of the fires was slowing, said David Boyd, fire information officer in St. George, Utah.

The largest of those blazes, the Tank Complex Fire, has burned 69,924 acres about 30 miles south of the Utah-Arizona border in the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Boyd said. Full containment was reached Tuesday.

Another 21,774 acres burning 10 miles north of St. George, known as the Sunrise Complex, is 90 percent contained.

The small town of Gunlock was still under restricted access because of firefighting helicopters, and Gunlock State Park is closed.

The Dammeron Complex Fire burned 18,464 acres 12 miles north of St. George and is 80 percent contained as 350 firefighters and four helicopters worked on the blaze.