Las Vegas Valley sees drenching rain for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day brought rain showers throughout the Las Vegas Valley and dumped fresh snow on the Spring Mountains, closing state Route 160 Thursday afternoon.

Snow on state Route 160 shut that highway down in both directions between Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Pahrump, according to the department. NDOT announced the road closure on its live traffic site just before 3:30 p.m. As of 8:30 p.m., the road had been reopened.

Rain began to creep in around noon from the western valley, signaling the start of a second surge of showers expected in a series of back-to-back storm systems that began Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Between a quarter-inch and a half-inch of rain fell across the valley, weather service meteorologist Todd Lericos said Thursday evening.

“Most of the rain was on the west side, out in Summerlin,” he said. “Everybody got rain pretty much, there was no area that didn’t.”

Meteorologist John Adair said snow could fall in the far west side of the valley late Thursday. “We’re not expecting any accumulations,” he said, while noting “it’s not out of the question to see some flakes this evening or overnight.”

Meanwhile, a winter storm was forecast to bring between 12 and 18 inches of snow to Mount Charleston, meteorologist Ashley Wolf said.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 4 a.m. Saturday.

Lericos said the mountain looks to have received 5 to 7 inches of snow Thursday, but there wouldn’t be accurate totals until Friday morning.

By Friday afternoon, “most of the rain should be over, and we’ll be dry through the weekend and into the beginning of next week,” Wolf said.

Below-normal daytime temperatures are expected through at least Monday. Friday will reach 49 degrees; Saturday, 48; Sunday, 51; and Monday, 57. Overnight lows during that period will vary between 36 to 38 degrees.

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.

Staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.