Las Vegas breaks record with over 150 rain-free days in a row
By
Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Sep 19, 2020 1:58 AM EDT
Thousands of birds have been found dead throughout the western United States. Dexter Henry looks at how their deaths could be due to extreme weather.
After an unusually dry season, Las Vegas broke its record for most consecutive days without rain on Friday after tying the previous record of 150 days on Thursday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Kate Guillet told AccuWeather during a phone interview that the dry spell could continue on even longer, further stretching the record.
"That record [is] likely to be extended many more days as they are either looking at a dry westerly flow with any Pacific moisture staying far to the north or the upper high building again over the southwest and blocking any moisture from the south," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Bowers said.
The last day Las Vegas reported any measurable rainfall this year was April 20. According to the NWS, the previous record that has now been broken was 150 days without measurable rainfall in 1959 from Feb. 22 to July 21.
Bowers said the dry spell most likely will continue through September and could possibly even stretch into October.
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Las Vegas' monsoon, which runs from Jun 15 to Sept. 30, offers a period of thunderstorms and rainfall, Guillet explained.
"But this year unfortunately, the setup was never really conducive to pull up a long duration moisture surge into our area where we would get those thunderstorms to develop," she said.
Typically moisture gets pulled up from the south, but Guillet explained that this year that was not able to happen and Las Vegas stayed dry.
"Maybe for 12-24 hours we had it where the ridge was in a good spot, but that wasn't really long enough for the moisture to make its way up into our area," she explained.
Panorama cityscape view of Las Vegas at sunset in Nevada, United States of America (Photo: f11photo/Getty Images)
Guillet said one season in recent years compares to this one. In 2010, only one hundredth of an inch of rain was recorded. In 1944, only a trace of rain was recorded from June 15 to Sept. 30. As of Friday, this monsoon season is also sitting on a trace of rain.
"We still have until the end of the month to potentially add to our monsoon precipitation total," Guillet said.
Las Vegas usually records 1.15 inches of precipitation during monsoon season, so this years trace total so far is "definitely well below average," but there are still multiple years on record that recorded less than one tenth of an inch of rain, she said.
In addition to the lack of rain, a dry season results in a hotter season, which can cause an elevated risk of fires.
"Normally if it is drier we see heat be a bigger problem because we don't have the moisture to kind of temper down how hot it can get" Guillet said. "So this year we had multiple heat waves that moved in and numerous records over the last few months... in addition to fire weather concerns. Without that rain that helps moisten up the vegetation the fire fuels are extremely dry right now."
Into the next three months, Las Vegas is transitioning into a La Niña period, which tends to be drier. During the next seven days, Guillet said it is still unlikely for any precipitation. Toward the end of the month, she said there may be a small chance for some level of precipitation in the Las Vegas valley.
"Overall it was a pretty down monsoon season for us," she said.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather News
Las Vegas breaks record with over 150 rain-free days in a row
By Lauren Fox, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Sep 19, 2020 1:58 AM EDT
Thousands of birds have been found dead throughout the western United States. Dexter Henry looks at how their deaths could be due to extreme weather.
After an unusually dry season, Las Vegas broke its record for most consecutive days without rain on Friday after tying the previous record of 150 days on Thursday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Kate Guillet told AccuWeather during a phone interview that the dry spell could continue on even longer, further stretching the record.
"That record [is] likely to be extended many more days as they are either looking at a dry westerly flow with any Pacific moisture staying far to the north or the upper high building again over the southwest and blocking any moisture from the south," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Bowers said.
The last day Las Vegas reported any measurable rainfall this year was April 20. According to the NWS, the previous record that has now been broken was 150 days without measurable rainfall in 1959 from Feb. 22 to July 21.
Bowers said the dry spell most likely will continue through September and could possibly even stretch into October.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Las Vegas' monsoon, which runs from Jun 15 to Sept. 30, offers a period of thunderstorms and rainfall, Guillet explained.
"But this year unfortunately, the setup was never really conducive to pull up a long duration moisture surge into our area where we would get those thunderstorms to develop," she said.
Typically moisture gets pulled up from the south, but Guillet explained that this year that was not able to happen and Las Vegas stayed dry.
"Maybe for 12-24 hours we had it where the ridge was in a good spot, but that wasn't really long enough for the moisture to make its way up into our area," she explained.
Panorama cityscape view of Las Vegas at sunset in Nevada, United States of America (Photo: f11photo/Getty Images)
Guillet said one season in recent years compares to this one. In 2010, only one hundredth of an inch of rain was recorded. In 1944, only a trace of rain was recorded from June 15 to Sept. 30. As of Friday, this monsoon season is also sitting on a trace of rain.
"We still have until the end of the month to potentially add to our monsoon precipitation total," Guillet said.
Las Vegas usually records 1.15 inches of precipitation during monsoon season, so this years trace total so far is "definitely well below average," but there are still multiple years on record that recorded less than one tenth of an inch of rain, she said.
In addition to the lack of rain, a dry season results in a hotter season, which can cause an elevated risk of fires.
"Normally if it is drier we see heat be a bigger problem because we don't have the moisture to kind of temper down how hot it can get" Guillet said. "So this year we had multiple heat waves that moved in and numerous records over the last few months... in addition to fire weather concerns. Without that rain that helps moisten up the vegetation the fire fuels are extremely dry right now."
Into the next three months, Las Vegas is transitioning into a La Niña period, which tends to be drier. During the next seven days, Guillet said it is still unlikely for any precipitation. Toward the end of the month, she said there may be a small chance for some level of precipitation in the Las Vegas valley.
"Overall it was a pretty down monsoon season for us," she said.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo