Las Vegas rallies to beat Seattle in October rainfall with just minutes to spare

Seattle had made a most-impressive rally that nearly saved the indignity of losing to Las Vegas in accumulated October rainfall for just the second time ever (1972).

But Las Vegas’ figurative half-court heave at the buzzer went swish, and now there’s two years we’ve been out-October rained by Sin City.

For the longest time this month, it appeared a foregone conclusion Seattle would not only lose, but get blown out.

Seattle was stuck at 0.08” for the month as late as October 24th — easily on pace for its driest October on record (0.31” in 1987). And the long range forecast for the end of the month was bleak.

Meanwhile, the Desert Southwest got wave after wave of tropical storm remnants, giving Las Vegas a very healthy lead at 1.19 inches.

I had asked in my weather blog earlier this month: “This is the same city that has JSN and the “Dark Side”, can we rally to beat Vegas?” And my answer was “if we could ‘pour’ it on” — not really thinking it was an option.

But then, came Seattle’s furious rally. What was forecast to be a weak area of low pressure swirling off our coast for a day or two became a little stronger low that swirled off our coast all week, sending scattered, but well-placed showers right into the heart of the Puget Sound area.

Seattle netted measurable rain each day from Oct. 25-30, chipping away at Vegas’ lead but still looking like it’d come up short until the stubborn but heavy showers of Oct. 30 really did “pour” it on. Seattle ended up with 0.54” of rain that day and pushed us into the LEAD! By the dawn of Halloween morning, Seattle had 1.29 inches of rain for October and Vegas was stuck on 1.19 inches.

Halloween was going to be dry here, but all we needed was a little defense Saturday and…uh oh, is that another atmospheric river heading into the Desert Southwest?!?!

(Announcer: Indeed, it was…)

Still, Vegas only got 0.03” on Friday, leaving them at 1.22 inches. All we had to do was not give up 0.07” on Saturday.

Las Vegas made it all the way to 10:50 p.m. Saturday with NO rain. WOO!

IN. THE. BAG….FANS: STREAMING FOR THE EXITS AND…oh wait, is that a big green blob on Vegas’ radar heading for the airport?…

NOOOOO!

It started raining at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport at 10:50 p.m. By the 11 p.m. observation, they had 0.01” of rain. Still just don’t give up another 0.06”…..

It kept raining — steadily, and moderately. The entire hour. By midnight, they were at 0.08” for the day. By the end of the official day (technically 1 a.m. PDT because climate is kept on standard time — ironically this day one hour before standard time resumed), Vegas had received a total of 0.09” on Sunday.

🌧️ October 2026 ended with 1.31 inches of rainfall for Las Vegas!
🏆 This puts October 2026 in 2nd place for Wettest October on Record.
🎯 The standing record is October 2005 with 1.45 inches.

#VegasWxRecords

— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) November 1, 2026

Final October Rain Score:
Las Vegas: 1.31” (2nd wettest October on record)
Seattle: 1.29” (tied 7th driest October on record)

And don’t look now, but we’re already losing again in November…