Question of the Day - 06 April 2024

Is parking available if I go to take pictures at the “Welcome to Las Vegas “ sign?

There sure is. You have to be driving south on the Strip to access it, however; there's no entrance northbound. And given the number of people making pilgrimages to the famous sign for selfies and group shots, the spaces fill up fairly fast. We've never counted the spaces, but there aren't many, perhaps a dozen or so for cars, plus larger spots for limos, shuttles, and buses. And at times when the line of people waiting for photographs is long, the lot doesn't change over all that quickly. But if you can get into the lot, you can wait until the next person leaves and grab the space. It's not exactly organized, but it does work out in the end. 

Is there an observation area near Reid International to watch airplanes land and depart?

There sure is -- and are. The official one is the Sunset Viewing Area located on Sunset Road near Escondido Street. You pull and park to see planes landing on Runway 26L, closest to the fence on the approach from the east. Planes take off on Runway 26R. As for that fence, it's high enough that if you want photos, you'll have to stand on the roof of your car, van, or truck to get it out of the frame. Or you can bring a ladder. It opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. in the winter and 9 p.m. in the summer. 

Why do video poker machines "hesitate" every few dozen hands? When you hit the Deal button, the machine lapses for long enough to notice. What's happening when it does this? 

The machine is simply processing information, generally updating its memory, so that no data about its operation is lost. Of course, that begs the question: Does the pause affect the outcome? The answer is yes. The random number generator will start from a different place than it would have without the pause. Whether the outcome from the pause is better or worse than it would've been without the pause is impossible to know. It's no different than if you yourself paused for the same duration at the same time. The result remains random.

Geographically speaking, what is the best region to get the snow that eventually melts down to the Colorado and on into Lake Mead?

The best region to generate snow, from which the melt eventually makes it way to the Colorado River, is high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The highest-elevation areas in Colorado receive the most snowfall during the winter months. Rocky Mountain National Park, for example, spans elevations from 7,600 to 14,259 feet above seal level and the San Juan Mountains boast 28 peaks above 9,000 feet, 13 of them Fourteeners; Uncompahgre Peak is the highest, standing at 14,309 feet.

The national park receives an average of between 12.5 and 20.8 feet annually and, in  fact, is located in a subregion of the Basin known as the “Colorado Headwaters.” The San Juans get the big dump: 16.7 to 33.3 feet on average every year. The snowpack gradually melts in the spring and summer, providing the crucial water supply to the Colorado River Basin, including Lakes Powell and Mead.