When most people hear “Nevada,” they usually think of Las Vegas first. Sin City does, in fact, receive snow once in a while, such as the January 1979 Las Vegas blizzard that dumped a record 7.2 inches of snow in the Vegas valley, causing school and university cancellations, closing McCarran International Airport, city-wide power outages and numerous traffic accidents. However, the worst blizzard in state history occurred in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area in January 2008, which surpassed the previous record snowfall that occurred in January 1916.
Ernie & Katie Newton Lawley/Flickr The worst blizzard in Nevada history occurred in Reno between January 4th and 8th in 2008.
Daniel Lobo/Flickr A 225-mph jet stream set into motion a series of strong storms which blanketed the area’s upper elevations with over 144 inches of snow.
Samir Mahendra/Flickr Winds as fierce as 149 mph not only made traveling in the area difficult and downed power lines but also forced local ski areas to shut down. Rainfall at the lower elevations caused up to eight inches of flooding.
Prayitno/Flickr Motorists were warned that traveling in the area could be life-threatening.
Alex Ortiz de Guinea/Flickr Due to high winds and blowing snow, public transportation such as buses and trains were temporarily stopped.
Anita Hart/Flickr The National Weather Service issued repeated blizzard warnings of high winds, blowing snow, and zero visibility.
chicadecasa/Flickr Then came the fun part for residents: shoveling their driveways and yards and clearing feet of snow from rooftops.
Alisha Vargas/Flickr Despite the danger, the area looked beautiful.
Alisha Vargas/Flickr With views like this, residents ordered to stay home couldn’t complain too much.
Justin Li The area remained beautiful in the aftermath.
Northern Nevada snow is common; however, snow in Las Vegas is not. Regardless of its natural beauty, snowfall in areas not used to it tend to be more trouble than not. Have you experienced any of Nevada’s snowstorms? Please let me know in the comments below.
Ernie & Katie Newton Lawley/Flickr
The worst blizzard in Nevada history occurred in Reno between January 4th and 8th in 2008.
Daniel Lobo/Flickr
A 225-mph jet stream set into motion a series of strong storms which blanketed the area’s upper elevations with over 144 inches of snow.
Samir Mahendra/Flickr
Winds as fierce as 149 mph not only made traveling in the area difficult and downed power lines but also forced local ski areas to shut down. Rainfall at the lower elevations caused up to eight inches of flooding.
Prayitno/Flickr
Motorists were warned that traveling in the area could be life-threatening.
Alex Ortiz de Guinea/Flickr
Due to high winds and blowing snow, public transportation such as buses and trains were temporarily stopped.
Anita Hart/Flickr
The National Weather Service issued repeated blizzard warnings of high winds, blowing snow, and zero visibility.
chicadecasa/Flickr
Then came the fun part for residents: shoveling their driveways and yards and clearing feet of snow from rooftops.
Alisha Vargas/Flickr
Despite the danger, the area looked beautiful.
With views like this, residents ordered to stay home couldn’t complain too much.
Justin Li
The area remained beautiful in the aftermath.
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