Winds almost as swift as F1 fans leaving Las Vegas
Those nasty Sunday winds appear to have departed Las Vegas almost as quick as Formula One race fans.
Sunday’s peak wind gusts caused visibility issues for motorists and snarled airport traffic for fliers with more than 800 flight delays.
A gauge at 10,000 feet in Lee Canyon recorded the top gust Sunday of 71 mph with Angel Peak hitting 70 mph. The North Las Vegas Airport wasn’t far behind at 63 mph with Red Rock topping out at 56 mph, all according to the National Weather Service.
The bridge at Hoover Dam hit 55 mph with a 45 mph breezes recorded at the Boulder City Airport and Nellis Air Force Base. Henderson Executive Airport, the parking place for many corporate jets during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, reached 43 mph.
Windy conditions caused a degree of Sunday chaos at Harry Reid International Airport as 826 flights experienced various degrees of delay, but only 12 flights were cancelled.
By Monday the delays dropped to 174 by 5 p.m.
Windy conditions caused travel headaches for motorists headed too or from Southern California with Interstate 15 traffic stopped at Primm for some brief periods.
Gusty winds mostly switched Monday to the Colorado River Valley with a 51 mph reading at the Bullhead City Airport in Arizona and a 46 mph gust at Lake Havasau.
The windy conditions will lighten considerably for the Las Vegas area on Tuesday, but will still be in the 20-30 mph rage for the Colorado River Valley.
The Tuesday forecast for central Las Vegas calls for a high near 66 with westerly winds around 6 mph, switching to north-northeast in the afternoon.
Wednesday will see a morning low near 44 before rising to around 66 with light winds.
Thanksgiving Day will be nearly the same, said meteorologist Matt Woods.
Conditions will change on Friday with a cold front moving from the Pacific Northwest and crossing Utah bringing the coldest temperatures since April.
“We’ll see some highs in the mid-50s,” Woods said.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.
