Last night the Las Vegas Valley was treated to one of the best light shows it had seen in many years when an unexpected - and huge - thunderstorm rolled through the valley. We've been here since '91 and don't remember one as fierce as this. Forecasters had not predicted any rain until today, and when all of the local newscasts had ended by 6:30PM there wasn't a hint of what was to come. Just after 7PM dark clouds started rolling into the Valley from the Sheep Mountains to the north of us, dark clouds with a LOT of light coming from them. Bettina had noticed the change and got the camera out and started filming resulting in about 1 1/2 hours of video. The National Weather Service issued a 'Severe Thunderstorm Warning' accompanied by a 'Flash Flood Warning' for the area and there were recorded wind gusts up to 74mph. The rain came down in sheets and the some parts of the Valley had seen 2" or so of rainfall. For more than two hours we were encased in a dome of lightning. In every direction, in every way, there was lightning. When you didn't see the streaks you saw the light in the clouds, it was everywhere!!
The following photos are screen grabs from the video and show the various lightning display's. Some of them show a sequence - the life cycle of a strike as it were. They are also in sequence, that is, the earliest strikes at the beginng with the last strike of the video at the end. Being screen grabs the file sizes are smaller but hopefully they'll still convey the majesty of yesterday's light show - courtesy of Mother Nature. Enjoy!
The two photos below are a single strike
Individual strikes
The following four photos are single strike sequence
Individual strikes
The following two photos are a sequence. Sometimes the strike begins with a bright flash followed by the streak
The following nine photos are of a single display
The following eight photos are a single display
The following eight photos are a single display
The following seven photos are a single display
