Las Vegas Drought Conditions Are ‘Extreme’ After Dry Monsoon Season | Weather in Las Vegas

Las Vegas’ monsoon season was a disappointment in 2024, prompting federal meteorologists to classify drought conditions in southern Nevada as “extreme” on Thursday.

Drought is synonymous with the Southwest desert in the 21st century as climate change reduces water availability in reservoirs across the region. The drought in Las Vegas is just one element of the U.S. Drought Monitor’s decision to raise the rating, along with other factors such as soil moisture and groundwater flows.

But having 151 consecutive days without precipitation above a tenth of an inch is certainly an anomaly, said Morgan Stessman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Las Vegas. That’s the second-most consecutive days in a year since records began in 1937, approaching 2020, when there were 240 straight days without measurable rain.

“It’s not particularly promising,” Stessman said of the possibility of rain in the near future. “It looks like we’re going to stay pretty dry for now.”

Does rain increase reservoirs?

The rainfall does not have a major impact on the level of the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, which supplies 90 percent of southern Nevada’s drinking water. When Tropical Storm Hilary passed through last year, delivering nearly a regular monsoon season’s worth of rain in just a few days, Lake Mead’s gains were minimal.

The outlook for Lake Mead can be better understood by looking at the amount of snow in the Rocky Mountains: The U.S. Department of Agriculture put all snow totals above Lake Powell on Thursday at about 96 percent of normal.

Still, the state’s ongoing drought was enough to raise the drought level to “extreme,” the second most concerning classification, said Curtis Riganti, the meteorologist who compiles the country’s drought map.

“The last few decades have been unusually dry across much of the West and Southwest,” Riganti said. “This level of drought is not unusual by definition, but it is part of a trend across the region.”

Locally, the Southern Nevada Water Authority plans to save water for the future in a worst-case scenario should the condition of the Colorado River deteriorate and states have to make deeper cuts to their allocations. The agency’s water use projections take Clark County’s booming population into account.

Bronson Mack, a spokesman for the water agency, said the improved drought assessment is “another example of why Southern Nevada’s water conservation efforts are important to strengthen community resiliency and adapt to a hotter, drier future due to climate change.”

The Las Vegas metropolitan area is largely considered a model for water conservation in the West, sometimes to the chagrin of some homeowners who believe that water conservation measures and excessive user fees are an overstatement for homeowners. The water authority is still pushing for homeowners to renovate their lawns in exchange for a refund.

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