Warm, sunny conditions will yield to February rain, says weather service
A sunny and warm week in the Las Vegas Valley may be followed by days of rain, according to divisions of the National Weather Service.
Temperatures rising close to 70 are forecast this weekend and into next week, says the Las Vegas office. After that, rain chances will increase each day, according to a long-range projection by the NWS Climate Prediction Center.
The Friday high should be near 61, but north winds of 11 mph will gust to 18 mph.
After a Saturday morning low of 41 in the central valley, the Saturday high should climb to around 63. The Sunday high should rise to about 67 with a top of 68 on Monday and Tuesday.
After that, the wet factor will gradually come to town.
“It will be really nice through Tuesday into Wednesday,” said weather service meteorologist John Salmen. “The whole (storm) wave starts up north and works its way toward us during the week.”
Salmen said forecasting models weren’t in agreement on Thursday, so the timing and amount of rain remains up in the air but will be more precise as wet weather arrives.
“Wednesday night into Thursday is when the rain should start,” Salmen said.
There's been quite a bit of chatter and rumors going around regarding next week's weather. Starting with what we know, it looks likely that we get back into an active storm pattern mid-to-late next week. Here are the precipitation outlooks from @NWSCPC to illustrate. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/coNv2ljFG5
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) January 25, 2024
The Climate Prediction Center shows the period from Jan. 31 through February 4 shows precipitation could be 70 to 80 percent above normal. Much of the western half of the nation has a precipitation outlook much wetter than normal.
An even longer range forecast calls for a similar percent chance of wetter than normal conditions through Feb. 14. Good thing Allegiant Stadium is domed for the Feb. 11 Super Bowl 58, right?
Any rain would help improve ground conditions since the region, as measured at the airport, is a full inch below normal for the rain year that began Oct.1, Salmen said.
The region has received just 0.53 of an inch for the nearly four months from Oct. 1, 2023, through Jan. 24, 2024, with the norm being 1.53 inches.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VegasMarvRJ on X.
