- The Weather Retort
- Posts
- Taste of summer targets much of Lower 48 in days ahead
Taste of summer targets much of Lower 48 in days ahead
Las Vegas notches wettest May on record in first week.
Ian Livingston
May 09, 2025
We’re still three weeks from climatological summer (June-August) but it’ll feel the part in many spots ahead. As heat flexes in the west and central U.S., rain targets the east. It could end up quite a bit for some locations.
Weather Watch
A wave of summer. Hot weather alerts are up around Los Angeles for the first time this year as temperatures in the upper 80s to upper 90s invade the metro area. It’s a quick hitter in Southern California, peaking Saturday before rolling east. Mid-90s could then spread to the international border with Canada on Sunday before daily records settle to the South next week.
Eastern U.S. deluge? ‘Tis the season, for cutoff lows. The next is getting squeezed out of the jet stream as we speak and it seems it’ll get stuck in the Gulf Coast region through at least early week. Overtopped by high pressure in the Great Lakes that aides heat in the northern tier, about 2 to 6 inches of rain is expected from Florida to Virginia through next Wednesday.
Lightning links
UK experiments to reflect sunlight one step closer.
In case you missed it, like I did
Las Vegas notched its wettest May on record earlier this week, after several days of rain in the region.
The 1.44 inches beats the old monthly record of 0.96 in 1969.
It was the first time with four consecutive May days of measurable precipitation there, according to the National Weather Service.
May is typically the second driest month of the year on average in Vegas, with a meager 0.07 inches the norm. June is usually the driest month, before rain odds tend to tick upward with the arrival of the Southwest U.S. monsoon.
One person is presumed dead from the event. In nearby Henderson, a man was swept away by flood waters and is yet to be found.
About
Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.
Find this interesting? Forward it on and tell a friend!
Reply