Flights resumed in and out of Las Vegas, but schools and highways were closed Thursday after a record-setting snowfall coated marquees on the Strip, weighed down palm trees and blanketed surrounding mountain areas, CNN reported.

The heaviest Arctic blast in nearly three decades has coated the normally sunny US city.

It was biggest December snowfall on record there, and the worst for any month since a 7 1/2 -inch accumulation in January 1979.

Tourists and locals handed off cameras, taking turns snapping pictures.

Business people who normally hop day flights between Las Vegas and California were seen in hotel lobbies scrambling to find an available room.

The wintry weather also whipped California. There were at least 20 inches of snow in Wrightwood, 5 inches in the hills above Malibu and 6 inches or more in Palmdale, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In Washington, Seattle got four inches of snow and Spokane got 17 inches - breaking a 24-hour record total of 13 inches set in 1984.

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