How the Las Vegas Monsoon Season Got Its Name

Ever wonder why the rainy season in the American Southwest goes by the same name as the rainy season in India?

Well, me too. 

When a co-worker recently scoffed at my mention of Monsoon Season (“‘Monsoon Season,’ please. I used to live in Miami.”) I decided to investigate.

Honestly, I always thought it was a creative misuse of the word.

It turns out that the term "monsoon" has more to do with shifts in wind patterns than rain, and that our rainy season is properly named monsoon for a whole host of meteorological reasons.

I stand corrected.

We still can’t compete with hurricanes, but we do get some really pretty thunderheads.

Did you know the origin of the term Monsoon Season?

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Photos by Terrisa Meeks

Las Vegas Flash Floods

People are shocked to find out that it floods when it rains in Vegas. 

This weekend I was on my way home from the store when I saw a bunch of people looking at the rising water in this flood channel. 

One minute later (literally--I checked the time stamp on the pictures), it looked like this.

Before the flood control channels and retention basins were built, this is what Las Vegas streets looked like whenever it rained. (And despite all that flood control, the streets still wind up looking like this sometimes--or worse.) People think I'm exaggerating when I tell them that for years, people just didn't go out when it rained. I'm not. 

Today, not a bit of yesterday's flash flood river remains.

I called this area Olive Tree Rapids.

Today, it looked like this:

Did you see any flash flooding this weekend?

Update, 08-31-13: During August, Las Vegas had a series of Monsoon-related flash floods. Last week, the Northwest/Centennial Hills area was hit especially hard (see this TWC post for pictures). Even as I update this post, another storm is moving in. 

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All pictures by Terrisa Meeks

Summer Storm Season in Las Vegas

On Friday, the 2013 Monsoon Season announced its arrival in Las Vegas with a spectacular lightning show.

The view from my backyard was dynamite.

Did you have much rain, wind, or lightning this weekend?

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Pictures by Terrisa Meeks