Las Vegas Loves Snow

This past Tuesday morning, the city woke up and discovered a thin layer of snow covering the western side of the valley.

View From the Red Rock Canyon Overlook Trail On January 26

On the west side of Las Vegas near Red Rock Canyon, we get snow flurries pretty much every year. The only question is whether or not it sticks in any quantity for any length of time. After a couple of decades, I have become inured to the charms of snow. When I woke up a little before 8 a.m. on Tuesday and saw my neighbors’ roofs covered in snow, my first thought was, “Thank God I don’t have to drive in that,” and then I got back in bed.

The rest of the city lost its mind for the morning, with photos of snow-covered Las Vegas scenes flooding social media.

By the time I decided to drive up to Red Rock, the snow in my neighborhood was pretty much gone, except for a few stubborn clumps.

It was obvious as I headed toward the Red Rock Overlook that I wasn’t the only one who thought a visit to Red Rock was a good idea.

Highway 159 near the Red Rock Overlook, crowded with people seeking snow

At various points along the sides of Highway 159, people were playing in a skimpy layer of snow covering the desert. I mean, there are still pointy things growing there. It just seemed odd. I saw one man throwing “snowballs” that looked to be about the size of meatballs. Small meatballs. Typically, when I think of snow play, I think of Mt. Charleston, which has like a bazillion inches of snow to play on. (OK, slight exaggeration – but you get the idea. It’s a mountain, where snow belongs.)

Snow on Joshua Trees

There was a line of cars coming out of Calico Basin. There was a line of cars to get in the Loop (which requires reservations these days, if you haven’t heard). The Overlook was crowded, but I was able to find a parking spot on my second pass around the parking lot.

This was once a snowman. Trust me, I was there.

The atmosphere at the Overlook was festive. People were wandering about both on and off trail. One man was flying his drone. Photographers were there in abundance with their big cameras and tripods. Lots of dogs were out, delightedly exploring the mud and patchy snow.

The photographers were out in full force, and with good reason - snowy Red Rock is beautiful

The sun tried breaking through while I was on the Overlook trail, briefly shining on the top of Blue Diamond Hill (right on the area where developers keep trying to build a massive housing project).

Some people think this is a great place to put a housing development. A whole lot of us disagree.

Heading home, I passed the line of cars waiting to get into the Loop and noted (with only slight alarm) a photographer who decided to squat in the middle of the highway to get what I presume must have been a shot worthy of the risk.

Back at home, the icy tidbits of snow left around the neighborhood were still hanging on. I took note and headed inside, glad again that I live in a place where snow is more of a novelty than a regular occurrence.

Did you see the snow on Tuesday? Judging from the weather forecast, we’ll have some additional mountain snow over the weekend.

All photos by Terrisa Meeks

Does it Snow in Las Vegas?

The short answer? Yes.

One of my co-workers (originally from Back East) asked me, “Does it ever really snow in Las Vegas?”

Yes, my Vegas-transplant friends, it does really snow here. However, what people usually mean when they ask that question is: “Does it ever snow in quantities large enough to make a snowman?”  Not often, and even then the snow-people are rather small.

The fact remains, though, that it does snow here, even if you can’t put Frosty in your rocky, postage-stamp sized front yard.

Exhibit A: The Snow of 1974 

That's me, in the backyard of the house I grew up in.

According to an article in the Las Vegas Sun, eight inches fell during this January storm. I didn’t attempt a snowman, but we did have plenty of snowball fights.

A few years later, in 1979, the city was pounded again. Much to the delight of everyone I knew at the time, the schools closed for a snow day. 

Exhibit B: The 2008 Snow

On December 17, 2008, the Strip got about three inches of snow, but the ‘burbs got up to eight inches.

We lived right next to the Peccole Paseo, which offered plenty of wide, open spaces for snow to accumulate, and even a few hills to inspire my son to make a valiant attempt at sledding.

Exhibit C: The Western Snow of 2011

Only one to three inches fell in the western part of the Las Vegas Valley in 2011, so a snowman would have been tough. 

But it was beautiful in pictures.

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Did you see any snow last week?

Photos by me,Terrisa Meeks

Two Weeks Ago in Las Vegas: Snow!

Today the winter weather in Las Vegas is at its best: 70° and sunny. Yesterday at the grocery store, I saw people in tank tops and shorts. Hard to believe that just two weeks ago, this was what it looked like in my backyard. We get snow almost every year in the neighborhood I live in, and I love that it requires no shoveling and makes such pretty pictures.

Snow in the Desert

Have you had enough snow yet? You may have heard this before, but no one has seen snow like this in Las Vegas in over thirty years. Henderson got socked on Wednesday with eight inches of snow. Here on the west side of the valley, we got two or three inches both Monday and Wednesday. My Mondays are normally full of things to do, but this Monday I didn’t get anything done. Instead, I spent six hours watching the snow.

We get snow flurries every year at our house because we live in the foothills of the Spring Mountains. Sometimes, I close my eyes and remember what it looked like before all the houses, when the area where my home sits was nothing but open desert. Ten years ago, when my son, Cameron, was a baby, we lived in an apartment at the edge of the rapidly disappearing desert. We had Cameron’s first Christmas in that little apartment. I hated that place. The walls were so thin that we heard everything—and I mean everything—our neighbors did, and our nephew was living on our sofa. I remember when the snow came that year. We were home alone when the snow covered the yuccas and the Joshua trees, painting the desert in white all the way to Red Rock. That year, the miracle of the snow was almost lost on me. I was sleep deprived, overweight, suffering from a very bad haircut, and not adjusting well to life with a new baby.

Here in the desert, snow is a once-in-awhile phenomenon instead of a months-long endurance test. Snow in the desert is a beautiful thing, an anomaly that helps you believe in the Unseen. Snow in the desert is unusual and memorable.

I remember when we had a white Christmas in Las Vegas, in the early 1970s. (Pictues below.) Johnny Carson joked on the Tonight Show about McCarren Airport being closed due to snow. Snow in Las Vegas! Who had ever heard of such a thing? My dad and I had a rousing snowball fight in the backyard that ended when he fell and hurt his shoulder (FYI, cowboy boots don't supply much traction on ice). I was fascinated by the snow, and even at night I would sit in the backyard and gaze up at the sky, watching the falling flakes.

I was in high school before we had a snowy day again. I discovered that high school boys like to put rocks in their snowballs. I had a bloody nose most of that day. That evening, when I was at a friend’s house, we decided to have a snowball fight. “Just don’t hit me in the face, please,” I told her. She promptly thwacked me right in the face with a snowball, and then apologized profusely as I stood there bleeding on her front yard.

This Monday, when the snow arrived, both my son and husband were home. It’s unusual for all of us to be home during the day. I woke up my son by opening his blinds and announcing, “It’s snowing!” He was out of bed immediately, dressed, downstairs, and outside. We watched as the snow started to stick, and by noon we had a thin blanket of white over everything. Our neighborhood streets were quiet and empty; it felt like we were the only people home that day. Cameron played in the snow until he was soaked; he came inside long enough to warm up and put on dry clothes, then he was back outside. Once there was an inch or so on the ground, he made a snow man. Well, it was more like a snow gnome, but it was a terrific effort. The snow turned the park behind our house into an uninterrupted field of white; I made sure to take pictures before the “sledding” began. The wet, thin snow barely covered the grass, but Cameron was determined. This time he had to go get in a warm shower after soaking a second set of clothes.

When I wasn’t watching my delighted child, I was watching the snow. I sat inside, next to a window, and looked up into the white sky. The flakes swirling down reminded me of the first time I watched snow falling. I remembered sitting on the cinder block wall in my backyard, staring up into the sky, fascinated by the snow. At a time when life often feels strange and unfamiliar, I am reassured to still feel wonder at the sight of snow falling in the desert.

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Photo information: Top--My picture taken Thursday from the west end of the valley, looking toward the Strip & the snow-covered mountains; click to enlarge. Below--Family pictures of the 1970s snow. My notes say 1973.

Las Vegas After 6 Hours of Snow

More of my pictures from our snow day today. These were taken right before three o'clock. Big snow flakes stopped falling between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., and right now we have a light drizzling rain. Should be interesting out on the roadways!

It's Snowing in Las Vegas

Snow has been falling ever since I got up! Here are pictures I took around my house at noon.