Warm and sunny for weekend in Las Vegas Valley
April showers in the Las Vegas Valley seemed to stick around the following month, which turned out to be the wettest May in more than three decades, the National Weather Service said.
The last 31 days were the fourth wettest May on record, with the valley receiving 0.80 of an inch of rain during the month, said meteorologist Clay Morgan. The only Mays with more rainfall were in 1971, which had 0.84 of an inch; 1987, with 0.90 of an inch; and 1969, with 0.96 of an inch.
In fact, the Las Vegas Valley surpassed the normal annual rainfall total during May, when the rainfall total reached 4.19 inches May 10 at McCarran International Airport, the weather service said.
The month also came with abnormally low temperatures, although it wasn’t cold enough to break any monthly records, Morgan said.
He said the rain and the low temperatures can be attributed to a low pressure system that has lingered over the western U.S.
“It’s all sort of interconnected,” he said. “It’s just unusual for us to be stuck under low pressure for that long.”
While Nevada saw low temperatures, the eastern U.S. was under a high pressure system, which brought higher than average temperatures, he said. And in the Midwest, where the two weather systems met, people have seen severe weather and tornadoes over the past few weeks.
“The whole atmosphere is connected together,” Morgan said.
Although the average overall temperatures didn’t break any cold weather records for the month, May broke a daily record for the coldest high temperature. The daily record was broken May 22 with a high of 67, almost 25 degrees colder than the average high for that day.
May had some crazy weather, but June should be back to business as usual for summer in Las Vegas, Morgan said.
There is a chance the valley could see its first 100 degree day by the middle of next week, he said. The highest temperature in the valley so far in 2019 was 96 degrees in April, the weather service said.
“If not then, then not long after,” Morgan said. “Looks like things are finally settling down.
After Friday’s high of 92, Saturday will see a high of 90, followed by 91 on Sunday, 93 on Monday, 97 on Tuesday and 99 on Wednesday. No rain or high winds are expected through the weekend, according to the weather service.
Low temperatures through Tuesday will be in the high 60s to low 70s, Morgan said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Jessica Terrones contributed to this report.
