High winds blast through Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008 | 10:58 a.m.

Uprooting some trees and knocking down signs, a strong downslope wind coming off the Spring Mountains blasted through the Las Vegas area Saturday.

The winds, which were the result of the cold front that moved into the southwestern states, brought gusts ranging from 40 to upwards of 60 mph across the west side of the Las Vegas Valley, including Summerlin and Centennial Hills, according to the National Weather Service.

Here are some of the Clark County wind reports from the weather service:

• 9:30 am., an off-duty weather service employee estimated wind gusts of 40 mph and reported a billboard had blown down in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley.

• 9:34 a.m., a gust was measured at 62 mph at Red Rock Canyon, which was at an elevation of 3,756 feet.

• 9:41 a.m., a wind gust of 54 mph from the south was measured at the Henderson Executive Airport.

• 9:45 a.m., a 20-foot-tall tree with a trunk diameter of one foot was uprooted 11 miles southwest of downtown Las Vegas by a 55 mph wind.

• 10:34 a.m., a wind gust was measured at 73 mph four miles north-northwest of Blue Diamond Ridge in Clark County.

• 12:48 p.m., a 56-mph wind gust was measured at the North Las Vegas Airport. By that time, wind gusts of 43 mph or greater had been observed each hour at the airport since 9:49 a.m.

• 1 p.m. (estimated), two large wooden signs had been snapped at their bases and knocked over near the Texas Station Casino about three miles west-northwest of downtown Las Vegas.

• 1 p.m. (estimated), a large pine tree was knocked over by strong winds estimated about 55 mph near Smoke Ranch and Rock Springs, about three miles north of Las Vegas.

• 1 p.m. (estimated), a wooden billboard was blown down just south of the intersection of the 215 Beltway and Decatur Boulevard. Wind gusts in the area were estimated at 55 mph.

• 1:25 p.m., wind gusts were measured at 59 mph at North Las Vegas Airport.

• 1:25 p.m., a weather spotter reported several seven- to eight-inch diameter trees were blown down in the Centennial Hills Shopping Center five miles north-northeast of Summerlin in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. Wind gusts in the area were estimated to be between 45 and 55 mph.

• 1:45 p.m., a weather spotter measured a wind gust of 51 mph in North Las Vegas near the intersection of Craig Road and Donna.

• 2:16 p.m., a 63-mph wind gust was measured at the Spring Mountain remote automated weather station at an elevation of 5,600 feet.

• 4:31 p.m., a 52-mph wind gust was measured at McCarran International Airport.