Las Vegas

Here's the thing about Vegas that nobody mentions until they've sweated through their shirt at noon in July: the desert doesn't mess around. Las Vegas gets roughly 124mm of rain annually—that's basically nothing—and you'll catch sun 11 hours a day on average. But that doesn't mean every month is created equal. February, March, April, and October are when the city actually feels livable. The rest? You're either fighting crowds and prices, or you're melting.

Spring (February through April) is when Vegas reveals itself as genuinely pleasant. February starts cool—highs around 13°C (55°F)—but by March you're looking at 19°C (66°F), and April pushes toward 26°C (79°F). Mornings are crisp enough that you actually want to be outside. The Strip feels less suffocating, room rates drop from their winter peak, and the light quality is that perfect golden-hour thing all day long. October mirrors this magic in reverse: 26°C (79°F) days cooling into 17°C (63°F) evenings. Crowds thin out post-Labor Day, prices dip, and you can actually walk the Strip without feeling like you're in a human oven.

Then there's June through August. Forget it. We're talking 40°C+ (104°F+) highs, with the real heat kicking in by mid-June. The air conditioning bill alone will haunt you, and the casinos get absolutely rammed with families on summer break. July is the worst offender—brutal heat, peak pricing, peak crowds, zero incentive. Even locals escape. May and September sit in this awkward zone where it's already hot enough to be unpleasant (32–36°C / 90–97°F), but not quite miserable enough to have the charm of deep winter or the relief of fall.

Looking at 2026 specifically, there's nothing suggesting Vegas will deviate from its bone-dry, scorching-summer pattern. The city's climate hasn't shifted meaningfully in decades—it's desert, full stop. What matters is planning around those four golden months and accepting that if you visit in summer, you're doing Vegas on hard mode.