January was one of the wettest in valley

Monday, Jan. 31, 2005 | 8:50 a.m.

Record rainfall in January, from National Weather Service records:

1995, 3.00 inches; 1949, 2.41; 1979, 2.18; 2005, 2.09; 1974, 2.00; 1993, 1.63; 1969, 1.57; 1939, 1.55; 1980, 1.45; 1955, 1.40; 1990, 1.18.

Valley residents should have been able to reduce their lawn watering bills for the month ending today.

January 2005 goes into Las Vegas Valley weather record books as the fourth-wettest January since record-keeping began in 1937, National Weather Service Meteorologist Barry Pierce said on Sunday.

Windy conditions and sunny skies greeted Southern Nevada residents and visitors alike on Sunday, and the rain shouldn't return for at least a week, Pierce said.

The only years on record that had more rainfall in January are 1995, 1949 and 1979, Pierce said.

Rainfall amounts for an average January are 0.59 of an inch.

The official records for Southern Nevada are kept at McCarran International Airport where the temperature Sunday reached 59 degrees.

As winds from 10 mph to 20 mph swept clouds out of the valley, Sunday's low was expected to dip to 43 degrees. Saturday night the low was 46 degrees.

Winds will continue to sweep the valley Monday from the north, which will keep daytime highs in the upper 50s into the lower 60s, Pierce said.

While some clouds will scoot across the skies this week, the weather is expected to remain rainless with highs in the lower 60s and lows in the high 30s to low 40s.

The winds will continue to blow until around midnight tonight.

For Super Bowl weekend, temperatures are expected to rise into the 60s for daytime highs with continued sunny skies.