Neon Desert Weather News

JUNE 2009 FEATURED A DRASTIC CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN FROM THE
FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH TO THE LATER. FROM ROUGHLY JUNE 4TH THROUGH
THE 17TH...A DIP IN THE JET STREAM RESULTED IN A PROLONGED PERIOD
WHERE TEMPERATURES WERE BELOW NORMAL. THIS STRETCH WAS MADE EVEN
MORE REMARKABLE HAVING FOLLOWED ONE OF THE WARMEST MAYS ON RECORD
ACROSS THE AREA.

IN LAS VEGAS...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 90 DEGREES OR BETTER
ONLY 20 TIMES DURING THE MONTH. THIS TIES 1965 FOR THE SECOND LEAST
NUMBER OF SUCH DAYS. THE RECORD IS 19 DAYS SET IN 1963 AND 1998.
THIS IS ALSO ONLY THE THIRD TIME EVER IN LAS VEGAS WHERE THERE WERE
MORE DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES IN MAY THAN
IN JUNE. THE OTHER YEARS ARE 1954 AND 1963. AMAZINGLY A SHIFT IN THE
WEATHER PATTERN IN THE LAST EIGHT DAYS OF THE MONTH TO ONE DOMINATED
BY A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE RESULTED IN A WARMER PERIOD OF
TEMPERATURES...WITH AN ALL-TIME RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR
THE MONTH OF JUNE OF 89 DEGREES TIED ON JUNE 30TH. THAT RECORD WAS
FIRST SET ON JUNE 30TH 1994. RECORDS AT LAS VEGAS DATE BACK TO 1937.

IN BISHOP...JUNE 2009 HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 67.9 DEGREES.
THIS RANKS AS THE 8TH COLDEST JUNE ON RECORD WITH RECORDS DATING
BACK TO 1948. THE COLDEST JUNE WAS IN 1995 WITH AN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 65.3 DEGREES.

JUNE 2009 WAS ALSO UNUSUALLY WET ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN AS
SEVERAL SYSTEMS MOVED ACROSS THE AREA BRINGING PRECIPITATION WITH
THEM. IN BISHOP THE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION TOTALED 0.58 INCHES AND
THIS RANKS AS THE 5TH WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD SINCE 1948. THE WETTEST
JUNE ON RECORD WAS BACK IN 1998 WHEN 1.31 INCHES FELL. IN ADDITION
AT BISHOP...THERE WAS A TRACE OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION ON 11 DAYS
DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE WHICH ALSO SET A RECORD FOR THE MOST
CALENDAR DAYS EVER IN JUNE TO SEE PRECIPITATION FALL. THE PREVIOUS
RECORD WAS 10 DAYS IN JUNE OF 1969 AND JUNE OF 1977.

Summary Courtesy of the NWS Las Vegas

Laughlin, NV hits a high temperature of 125 degrees setting an all-time record high for Nevada.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

Summer is the peak season for one of the nation's deadliest weather phenomena— lightning. But don't be fooled, lightning strikes yearround. In the United States, an average of 62 people are killed each year by lightning.

Some additional statistics:

To date, in 2009, 15 people have been killed by lightning
In 2008, 28 people died due to lightning strikes
Hundreds of others were permanently injured. Of the victims who were killed by lightning in 2008:
100% outside
79% male
36% males between the ages of 20-25
32% under a tree
29% on or near the water

For more information visit: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/

0.82 inches of rain was recorded at McCarran International Airport. This was the greatest official rainfall amount recorded in Las Vegas in June. A 25-year-old woman drowns after her car is swept into a flood channel, and a 19-year-old man drowns in Green Valley, where he is swept into a manhole during a storm that drops 1.57 inches of rain in an hour.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

A strong late season cold low pressure system brought significant weather changes to the southern Great Basin and Mojave Desert. Earlier in the week Las Vegas set a record high temperature of 108 degrees falling just one degree shy of the all-time May record. Four days later, on this date, the high temperature only reached 67 degrees which set a daily record for the coolest high temperature. Also on May 22, Las Vegas set its all-time lowest May altimeter reading of 29.27 inches. Showers and thunderstorms developed around the region with several locations reporting small hail. Mount Charleston received around 3 inches of snowfall down to the 7500 foot level.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

It's that time of year again when many of you may experience severe weather. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) monitors potential severe weather situations across the country and helps to give both the citizens and forecasters in your area a heads-up of the potential of hazardous weather situations.

The Storm Prediction Center's mission is to provide timely and accurate forecasts and watches for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the contiguous United States. The SPC also monitors heavy rain, heavy snow, and fire weather events across the U.S. and issues specific products for those hazards.

Info Courtesy of CoCoRaHS

Air Quality Awareness Week
April 27 thru May 1, 2009

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service urge Americans to “Be Air Aware” during Air Quality Awareness Week, April 27 - May 1, 2009.

Join the EPA and NOAA all week long as they examine the following topics:

Monday: Ozone and particle pollution
Tuesday: What causes poor air quality?
Wednesday: Keeping your lungs and heart safe
Thursday: What are air quality forecasts.
Friday: What can you do to help make the air cleaner?

To find out more visit: Air Quality Awareness Week

The high temperature reached 99 degrees today, making this the warmest day so far this year. A cold front approaching from the west is forecast to cross the region on Friday dropping temperatures back to normal levels.

AN UNSEASONABLY COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW LOCATED OVER CENTRAL NEVADA
BROUGHT AN UNUSUAL SIGHT TO PARTS OF THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY WEDNESDAY
MORNING...SNOW! MOST OF THE SNOW THAT FELL WAS VERY LIGHT AND IN
MANY INSTANCES MIXED WITH RAIN. THERE WERE NO REPORTS OF ANY SNOW
ACCUMULATING. A FEW SHOWERS MOVED SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE LAS VEGAS
VALLEY MAINLY BETWEEN 6 AM AND 7 AM PDT TODAY PRODUCING THE FIRST
REPORTS OF SNOW ON THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST SIDE OF THE LAS VEGAS
VALLEY. SCATTERED SHOWERS PRODUCED SNOW AS RECENTLY AS 11 AM PDT
TODAY.

SNOW WAS OBSERVED SO FAR IN SUMMERLIN...NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF THE
215 BELTWAY AND CHARLESTON BLVD AS WELL AS NEAR 215 AND SUMMERLIN
PARKWAY...IN THE MOUNTAINS EDGE COMMUNITY IN SOUTHWEST LAS VEGAS AS
WELL AS IN NEIGHBORHOODS JUST SOUTH OF SUMMERLIN. THESE LOCATIONS
ARE GENERALLY BETWEEN 2700 AND 3200 FEET IN ELEVATION.

NO SNOW HAS BEEN OBSERVED SO FAR TODAY AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT...THE OFFICIAL CLIMATE LOCATION FOR LAS VEGAS. SO OFFICIALLY
TODAY SO FAR...THERE WAS NO SNOW IN LAS VEGAS.

SINCE THIS IS LAS VEGAS AND PEOPLE OFTEN LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE ODDS
OF SOMETHING...THE LATEST SNOW HAS EVER BEEN REPORTED IN OFFICIAL
LAS VEGAS CLIMATE RECORDS WAS ON APRIL 4TH 1958. ACCORDING TO THE
OFFICIAL OBSERVING FORMS THOUGH...THIS WAS REPORTED TO BE SNOW
PELLETS. THE LATEST TRUE SNOW FLAKES HAVE EVER FALLEN IN LAS VEGAS
BASED ON OFFICIAL OBSERVING FORMS WAS ON MARCH 14TH 1975. ALTHOUGH
OUR OFFICIAL RECORDS SHOW SEVERAL DATES WITH TRACES OF SNOW LATER IN
MARCH...THESE WERE ALL TRACES OF FROZEN PRECIPITATION SUCH AS SNOW
PELLETS OR HAIL...WHICH BY OFFICIAL CLIMATE RECORDS COUNT AS A
TRACE OF SNOW.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT WHILE THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL RECORDS KEPT OF
THE EARLIEST AND LATEST DATES SNOW HAS EVER BEEN REPORTED IN THE LAS
VEGAS VALLEY OVERALL USING ANY LOCATION...THE 2008-2009 SEASON MAY
VERY WELL BE IT. BACK ON OCTOBER 11TH OF 2008...SNOW WAS OBSERVED
BRIEFLY IN SUMMERLIN. THE GROWTH OF THE LAS VEGAS VALLEY FURTHER OUT
INTO ELEVATIONS HIGHER THAN OUR OFFICIAL CLIMATE STATION IS AT
RESULTS IN SNOW BEING OBSERVED MORE FREQUENTLY THAN AT OUR OFFICIAL
CLIMATE LOCATION.


Source: NWS Las Vegas

A total of 1.47 inches of rain fell in Death Valley National Park. This was the highest one day total ever recorded.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

Strong winds blew through the Valley last Sunday as a cold front approached from the north. A peak gust of 36mph from the southwest was recorded here in East Las Vegas shortly after 10am. The strongest winds followed behind the cold front and were most evident in the northern parts of the valley as this graphic from the NWS office in Las Vegas depicts.

Climatologically this is the first day Las Vegas reaches 80 degrees for a high temperature.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

Strong winds accompanied by rain and snow whirled through southern Nevada as one the fiercest storms of the year damaged buildings, snarled traffic, downed power lines and curtailed Atomic Energy Commission operations at Yucca Flats and Mercury.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

Las Vegas officially recorded 0.07 inches of rain on this date. This was the sixth consecutive day of measurable rainfall, tying the all-time record. This was also the first time this had happened in 54 years. The last time Las Vegas recorded six consecutive days of measurable precipitation was January 1949.

Source: NWS Las Vegas

An exceptionally moist and unstable Pacific storm produced rain showers and thunderstorms over southern Nevada early President's Day morning. Within just a few hours, over an inch of rain had fallen on parts of the west side of the Las Vegas Valley and area washes began to gradually fill with water. Showers continued to fall through the morning and left from three-quarters (0.75) to over an inch of rain at most recording stations within the metro area. The Charleston Underpass filled with water and pools formed in many low-lying intersections causing some vehicles to stall.

Source: NWS Las Vegas