A record snowfall was covering the famous attractions of Las Vegas in a blanket of white Thursday, forcing airlines to cancel flights and turning the Las Vegas Strip into a slush-ridden thoroughfare, dpa reported.
The heavy winter storm was part of an extreme weather system that is bringing a record cold front through the west, causing the lowest temperatures for 20 years in some areas.
The snow caused the closure of Interstate 5, the major road link between north and south California, and dumped up to a meter of snow in the Sierra and San Bernardino Mountains.
The 10 centimeters of snow that fell on Las Vegas' McCarran airport late Wednesday was the second highest amount since 1967 and the highest for the month of December since records began in 1937.
But it couldn't top the 16.5 centimeters that fell there in 1979.
It means that sights like the massive Sphinx outside the Luxor hotel were covered in snow, as was the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.
"This is the most snow we've had in Las Vegas in almost 30 years," Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service told the Las Vegas Review Journal. "It's a significant historical event."