Scattered thunderstorms possible throughout Las Vegas Valley on Wednesday
The Las Vegas Valley could see more thunderstorms on Wednesday, as McCarran International Airport officially recorded 0.01 of an inch of rain early Wednesday morning.
A thunderstorm in the Moapa Valley area northeast of Las Vegas brought strong winds and heavy rainfall Tuesday night, forcing authorities to issue flash flood warnings and shut down a section of state Route 169 near Overton.
As of Wednesday morning, the flash flood warnings are no longer in effect.
There is about a 20 to 30 percent chance of rain on Wednesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Planz said. Thunderstorms are possible throughout the Las Vegas Valley.
“Any of the storms could be capable of dropping a half inch to an inch of rain,” Planz said. “We just don’t know where.”
Rain will be much less likely after Wednesday, Planz said.
Wednesday’s high is forecast for 96 degrees, while the low is expected to be 82.
Monsoonal rains occur as the result of a seasonal wind shift over the Southwest U.S. and northwestern Mexico and typically occur in the form of thunderstorms in the late afternoon or early evening. They are normally not widespread.
Last year, the monsoon season came and went without any measurable rain in the Las Vegas Valley, tying a record set more than 75 years ago.
With only a trace amount of rain between June and September, 2020 tied with the 1944 record for the driest monsoon season since the weather service began recording in 1937.
The driest year recorded in Las Vegas was 1953, when only 0.56 inches of precipitation fell at McCarran.
Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.