A thunderstorm that rumbled through Henderson brought flooding to streets and parking lots, including this area along Corporate Drive just west of Green Valley Drive.
Intense thunderstorms rumbled across the Las Vegas Valley this afternoon, bringing lightning, heavy rains and the threat of flooding. By 6 p.m., the National Weather Service had canceled all of the weather warnings and watches for Southern Nevada, except a severe thunderstorm warning at the southern tip of the state.
The storms that pass through the Las Vegas area brought torrents of heavy rain to some areas: 0.63 of an inch of rain to Nellis Air Force Base, 0.47 of an inch to Pittman Park Detention Basin, 0.43 of an inch to Pioneer Park and 0.24 of an inch to the Desert Inn Detention Basin, according to the Clark County Regional Flood Control District rain gages.
All but the Desert Inn gage are located on the eastern side of the Las Vegas Valley.
The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for downtown Las Vegas that lasted through 4:30 a.m.
Forecasters also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for east Las Vegas, with storms reaching the Silver Bowl at 3:30 p.m., and Railroad Pass and the northeastern portion of Lake Mead by 4:30 p.m.
About 2:50 p.m., one storm gathered punch over Henderson, spewing lightning, heavy rain and pea-sized hail, while another formed over the Spring Mountains and headed for The Lakes in the western valley. By 3 p.m., the thundercloud cells that soaked Henderson and the Las Vegas Valley delivered 0.43 of an inch in the Lower Duck Creek area, northeast of Henderson in the Las Vegas Wash area, according to monitors of the Clark County Regional Flood Control District.
The next highest amount occurred at Pioneer Road in Henderson with 0.39 of an inch. Downtown Las Vegas, where the flash flood warning was issued, received 0.12 of an inch. Sloan, southeast of Las Vegas, recorded 0.24 of an inch.
Other gages showed amounts in hundreths of an inch by 3 p.m.
The weather service said moisture moving in from the southeast after Tropical Storm Julio pounded the Baja peninsula and Mexico this weekend brought the rain. Forecasters said Julio, which is lashing the Mexican Pacific coast, could push a plume of moisture into the desert Southwest through the middle of the week.
This week, heat and humidity will battle it out in Southern Nevada, northwestern Arizona and Southern California as moist, unstable air hangs over the desert Southwest, the weather service said.
The average high on today's date at McCarran is 100 degrees, according to weather service records, but Sunday's high of 107 degrees may preview things to come through this week and into the three-day Labor Day weekend.
Las Vegas reached a high of 104 this afternoon before the storms brought the temperature down into the 90s.
After a high near 102 on Tuesday -- and the same chance of afternoon showers -- the mercury will again climb to about 105 degrees during the middle and end of the week.
The temperature has reached the triple digits each day this month except for Aug. 5, when the high topped out at 98 degrees.
The typical monsoon pattern fires up from July through mid-September, but Julio is adding to the moist southeast winds.
Sun reporters Tim Richardson and Dave Toplikar contributed to this report.
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