LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Sustained wind speeds in Las Vegas have dropped below 15 miles per hour after a night of stronger than anticipated gusts and even some graupel in parts of the valley.
The threshold for shooting off fireworks is winds sustained at 10 miles per hour. Officials say if it's too windy at midnight, they will delay the fireworks show until 1 a.m.
Just before 11 p.m., Clark County said officials were going through the last-minute checklist and shared pictures from inside the Grucci Fireworks command center overlooking the Strip.
"Hoping the weather cooperates," the county said in part in a tweet.
Earlier in the night, gusts that were forecasted to land between 20 and 30 miles per hour were closer to 45 and 50 at times.
Those gusts were strong enough to cause a brief employee evacuation around 7 p.m. as workers set up for Playa Playground at AREA15. The event, put on by Lavish Entertainment, continued as planned.
Update from AREA15 around 7 p.m. Around 8:30 p.m. representative told 13 Action News the event is still going on as planned and people are filling the venue:
#LasVegas is experiencing some wild weather this #NYE! Chris Guevara sent us this video of graupel in the Summerlin area. @danibeckstrom reports sustained wind speeds have dropped under 15 mph. Earlier in the night gusts of almost 50 mph were reported: https://t.co/uTLDUvpSpT pic.twitter.com/evUGIWlaVc
— KTNV 13 Action News (@KTNV) January 1, 2022
