An incoming storm will bring widespread rain to Nevada, but the precipitation isn't expected to change Lake Mead's water levels significantly.
After years of drought, Lake Mead, which is in Nevada and Arizona, reached drastically low levels in the summer of 2022. However, water levels have since started to recover because of above-average precipitation and snowpack that melted last year and various storms that supplemented the levels throughout the summer. Typically, Lake Mead's water levels stall, or the increase slows, during the winter months, but a graph shows that isn't the case this year.
Lake Mead has risen 8 feet since the start of the year. As of Friday morning, the lake was at 1,076 feet, almost 30 feet above water levels during this time last year. A slew of atmospheric rivers moving through California and into Nevada brought precipitation to the area, and more rain is on the way.
"A more active weather pattern will commence over the Western US late this weekend into the work week," the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday afternoon. "Coastal Washington and Oregon will see a couple of inches of rainfall and the Mountain West will see fresh powder in the peaks (snowfall)."
A map shared by the NWS showed that precipitation was expected in almost the entire state of Nevada, including in the Lake Mead region.
Although the rain is expected to fall over a widespread area, NWS meteorologist Chris Outler told Newsweek that the Las Vegas region likely won't get much rain.
"Most of the heavier precipitation will probably be off to our north and east. The storm system itself has trended a lot weaker in the last couple days," he said. "Most desert locations will probably get pretty light precipitation, if anything at all."
Outler said the Las Vegas region has a 30 to 40 percent chance of rain with the incoming storm. If rain does arrive, it is expected to peak on Tuesday. Outler said the Lake Mead area has a similar chance of rain at around a 35 to 45 percent chance.
If rain does fall in the region, it likely won't significantly impact Lake Mead's water levels.
Nearly an inch of rain has fallen in Las Vegas this month, above the monthly average of 0.8 inches.
"That is above normal but not nearly as above normal as southern California," Outler said. "It's still above average, so we'll take it."
February is usually the wettest month of the year for Las Vegas. January was not as productive for rain. A little over a quarter inch of rain fell in January, below the monthly average of 0.56 inches.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
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