Snowfall surprises West, sets record for Las Vegas

December 19, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Flights resumed in and out of Las Vegas, but schools and highways were closed Thursday after a record-setting snowfall coated marquees on the Strip, weighed down palm trees and blanketed surrounding mountain areas.

The city awoke to clear weather after a storm that left 3.6 inches at McCarran International Airport. It was biggest December snowfall on record there, and the worst for any month since a 71‚Ñ2-inch accumulation in January 1979, forecasters said.

The storm Wednesday and early Thursday also dumped snow or rain and snarled travel in other parts of Nevada, much of southern California and parts of northern Arizona.

“It looks like Whoville, all snowy, but with less joy and more extreme misery,” said Calen Weiss, 19, who was stuck Wednesday when snow in the Cajon Pass east of Los Angeles disrupted travel on Interstate 15.

Cajon Pass and another leg of Interstate 15 near the Nevada line both reopened by midday Thursday, while Interstate 5, the major route between Northern and Southern California, partially reopened.

In Washington state, Seattle got a rare 4-inch accumulation, and the 19.4 inches of snow that piled up at Spokane International Airport smashed the 24-hour record total of 13 inches set in 1950. And snow continued to fall.

Spokane declared a “Condition Red” snow emergency, meaning crews will work around the clock until they complete a full city plow.

For Las Vegas, the storm left heavy, wet accumulations of snow along the famed Strip. At least one carport toppled under the accumulated weight, authorities said, and motorists in Henderson parked their cars and walked home when tires spun as they tried to navigate slippery uphill climbs.

Thursday was the first snow day for Clark County schools since the 1979 storm, district spokesman Michael Rodriguez said.

Airlines resumed flights Thursday after canceling dozens of them late Wednesday, McCarran airport spokesman Jerry Pascual said.

“Visibility has lifted. The outlook for the day is much better,” Pascual said as the sun rose Thursday. Pascual said just one flight had gotten out overnight and stranded travelers were forced to sleep on lounge seats and floors at the nation’s sixth-busiest airport.