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Water crashed through the ceilings of some of Las Vegas’ famous casinos Thursday night as torrential rain flooded the sites for the second time in as many weeks, adding to an unusually wet monsoon season for the desert city.
Videos shared on social media showed water entering Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood on the Strip amid a thunderstorm that hit the area from the north around 8:00 p.m. local time. On July 28, the city was inundated by another storm that unleashed destructive winds and sent water flooding into the casinos.
At Caesars Hotel and Casino, rain fell through the ceiling onto the heads of restaurant guests.
Meanwhile, water knocked over the card tables and flooded the checkered carpet at Planet Hollywood. The water flowed in waves in the garages. At one point, more than 17,500 customers were without power, Las Vegas television station KLAS-TV reported.
Caesars Entertainment, which operates Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood, did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
Shortly after 9 p.m., the weather service issued a flood warning for all of Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, warning that high water could affect low-lying and poorly drained areas. Wind gusts of up to 64 mph were reported at the North Las Vegas airport and near the Strip, while the weather service received “multiple reports” of lightning striking trees.
The area is under a flood watch from 11 a.m. Friday until midnight Saturday because of the potential for slow-moving thunderstorms that could cause heavy rain and flash flooding, according to the weather service. The chance of afternoon and evening storms is at least 20 percent through Monday.
The storm gave Las Vegas 0.58 inches of rain, nearly double the August average of 0.32 inches.
The city’s rainfall total for this monsoon season, which began June 15, also rose to 1.28 inches, the most in a decade, according to the National Weather Service. Rainfall totals could increase even before the end of the season on September 30.
A southwest summer monsoon brought torrential rain to Las Vegas on August 11, flooding streets and casino gaming rooms. (Video: The Washington Post)
Both recent floods were triggered by the southwest monsoon, which develops each summer when the prevailing winds shift from west to south, drawing a surge of moisture north. This year’s southwest monsoon has been particularly intense, helping to alleviate drought conditions in the region, but also causing very significant flooding. Last week, 1,000 people were stranded in California’s Death Valley National Park due to a 1-in-1,000-year flash flood.
Scientists say human-caused climate warming is increasing extreme rainfall. Hotter air speeds up evaporation and makes more water available in the atmosphere during rain. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found some evidence that rainfall from the southwest monsoon has increased since the 1970s.
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