Las Vegas beats yearly rain total in less than 6 months

A flash flood watch is in effect for the Las Vegas Valley as showers and thunderstorms moved throughout the valley Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The watch is in effect through Friday afternoon, meteorologist Jenn Varian said.

Rainy May

Early Friday, the National Weather Service tweeted that McCarran International Airport had received 0.40 of an inch of rain in 24 hours, making it the 10th rainiest May on record.

With that amount, the airport has received 4.20 inches of rain in 2019, breaking the average annual rainfall of 4.19 inches, the weather service said.

On Thursday night, the weather service had issued a flood advisory for the entire valley, which expired at 12:15 a.m. Friday, meteorologist Alex Boothe said.

The valley hit the high temperature of 75 degrees at about 1 a.m. Thursday, and it was in the low 70s by the afternoon, meteorologist Kate Guillet said.

Only trace amounts of rain fell in the valley during the day Thursday, although that could change overnight, Guillet said.

The rainfall was widespread throughout the valley by shortly after 10 p.m., with most areas in the valley seeing about 0.04 to 0.12 of an inch of rain by 11 p.m., according to the Regional Flood District’s online map.

The farthest northwest sections of the Centennial Hills area saw about 0.35 to 0.39 of an inch.

As of 11 p.m., about 0.20 of an inch fell near Revere Street and the 215 Beltway, and up to 0.43 of an inch fell near the Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area. The west valley near Summerlin saw between 0.16 of an inch to 0.24 of an inch.

Boothe said the oncoming storm Thursday night is “just a big bunch of rain with a few little thunderstorms embedded inside of it,” adding that rainfall has been light in the valley as of 9:30 p.m.

Aviators game called

Fans of the Las Vegas Aviators dodged raindrops at Las Vegas Ballpark, but weather didn’t delay the game until shortly after 9:30 p.m. when the team tweeted that the game was in a rain delay — the first in the ballpark’s short history.

“Stand by for details as this flight takes a pause,” the tweet read in part. The Aviators were leading 7-5 after six and a half innings when the delay was announced. A short while later, the team announced the game had been officially called, giving the Aviators the win.

Heavier bands of precipitation started moving into the northern parts of the Las Vegas Valley, including Centennial Hills, by around 8:30 p.m.

Stronger storms were moving into the Spring Mountains, according to National Weather Service radar.

More showers may be coming

A 60 percent chance of rain is forecast for the valley on Friday. The high is expected to reach 73 degrees, nearly 20 degrees below average temperatures, according to the weather service.

Saturday and Sunday will see highs of 76 and 81 degrees, respectively, Guillet said. The weekend will have a 30 percent chance for rain both days.

Low temperatures are expected to remain in the low 60s over the weekend.

“By Monday we should start drying out a bit,” Guillet said, adding that only a 10 percent chance of rain is forecast for Monday.

Sunny skies and a high of 86 is expected, followed by a high of 89 and dry weather on Tuesday, the weather service said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Jessica Terrones contributed to this report.