Big Bus Las Vegas: Sightseeing Night Tour by Open-Top Bus
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Las Vegas Night Weather, Month by Month
Las Vegas weather is not really about rain. It rains 4.18 inches a year across about 26 days, and nothing here closes for it. What the month decides is two other things: what time it gets dark, and whether an open vehicle is comfortable at ten o'clock.
What the weather does to an evening here
Three consequences, in the order they will affect you. Sunset moves by three and a half hours across the year, from about 4:26pm in early December to 8:03pm at the end of June, which decides whether a 5:30pm departure is a night tour or a dusk tour. The temperature decides the format. An open top deck or an open jeep in July sits somewhere between a 105 °F high and an 82 °F low; in January the low is 40 °F and the same deck is cold. Wind, not rain, cancels things. It grounds helicopter flights and stops a fountain show.
Rain is a footnote. July and August bring short monsoon thunderstorms, and the rest of the year is close to dry. Plan around the clock and the thermometer.
Las Vegas at night, month by month
January
Cold for a desert once the sun is down. The normal high is 59 °F and the normal low 41 °F, and sunset is at 4:49pm mid-month. Rainfall is 0.54 in. An open top deck wants a real jacket, and a 5:30pm departure is a full night tour.
February
The wettest month of a very dry year, at 0.76 in. Normal high 63 °F, normal low 44 °F, sunset 5:22pm mid-month. Still jacket weather in an open vehicle, and still the season of long evenings.
March
The clocks go forward on the second Sunday and sunset jumps to about 6:48pm. Normal high 71 °F, normal low 51 °F, rainfall 0.44 in. Wind is at its most persistent now, which is the month helicopter flights are most often rescheduled.
April
The best compromise month of the year. Normal high 79 °F, normal low 57 °F, rainfall almost nothing at 0.15 in, sunset 7:14pm mid-month. Warm enough at 10pm for an open deck, cool enough to walk the Strip.
May
Heat arrives. Normal high 89 °F, normal low 66 °F, rainfall 0.12 in, sunset 7:40pm. Evenings are the pleasant half of the day from here on, and the later departures start to make more sense than the earlier ones.
June
The longest evenings and the latest sunset, about 7:59pm mid-month and 8:03pm at the end of it. Normal high 99 °F, normal low 76 °F, rainfall 0.07 in, the driest of the twelve. Only the 8pm and later departures are dark.
July
The hottest month, and the monsoon starts. Normal high 105 °F, normal low 82 °F, rainfall up to 0.40 in in short thunderstorms. Sunset is 7:58pm. A 10pm departure sits between those two temperatures, so carry water rather than a coat.
August
Barely cooler and just as humid. Normal high 103 °F, normal low 81 °F, rainfall 0.33 in, sunset 7:31pm. The open top deck is the format that suffers: reviewers this month describe it as hot even after dark.
September
The month that gets the balance right. Normal high 95 °F, normal low 72 °F, rainfall 0.25 in, sunset 6:49pm mid-month. Warm at 10pm without being punishing, and the evenings are already properly dark by eight.
October
The best month here for anything outdoors after dark. Normal high 81 °F, normal low 60 °F, rainfall 0.27 in, sunset 6:05pm mid-month. Every format here is comfortable in October.
November
The clocks go back on the first Sunday and sunset drops to about 4:33pm mid-month. Normal high 67 °F, normal low 47 °F, rainfall 0.36 in. Early darkness makes a 5:30pm start a genuine night tour again.
December
The earliest sunset of the year, 4:27pm mid-month and 4:26pm in the first week. Normal high 57 °F, normal low 40 °F, rainfall 0.50 in. Cold in an open vehicle and the best month for a long evening.
The seasons, and which one you want
Normals from the 1991–2020 record at Harry Reid International Airport; sunset times computed for the Strip.
| Season | Months | Sunset | Evening feel | Best format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long nights | November to February | 4:26–5:30pm | Cold in an open vehicle | Guided van, club crawl, helicopter |
| The comfortable months | March to May, October | 6:00–7:40pm | Warm and dry | Anything, including the open top deck |
| Hot and late | June to September | 6:49–8:03pm | Above 90 °F at 10pm | Later departures; air-conditioned vehicles |
If you are choosing dates around one thing, choose around October. It has the shortest gap between comfortable and dark of any month here, and every format compared on Las Vegas night helicopter tour works in it. December is the other good answer if you want the longest possible evening and do not mind a coat.
Best time of day
Take the departure that starts 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. That gives you the last of the light on the drive out and the full effect by the time you reach the Welcome sign or the fountains, which is what the photographs need. The 10pm departures are the other good answer, for a different reason: the Strip is quieter, the buses are emptier and reviewers on the late run consistently say so.
The one time to avoid is the hour before sunset in summer, when you are paying for a night tour and getting a daylight one. The what-to-expect page sets out how an evening runs once it starts.
Frequently asked questions
What time does it get dark in Las Vegas?
Between about 4:26pm in early December and 8:03pm in late June, so the season decides everything about a night tour. In midwinter a 5:30pm departure is already running in the dark; in July the same departure spends its first hour in daylight. Check the sunset time for your date before you pick a start time.
What happens if the weather cancels my tour?
Helicopter flights are the ones that get grounded, usually by wind rather than rain, and the operator reschedules or refunds. Open-top buses and jeeps run in light rain, and the Welcome sign stop goes ahead in a shower. The Fountains of Bellagio are the other weather casualty, because high wind stops the show.
What should I wear on a night tour in Las Vegas?
Layers, and better shoes than you think. A January evening on an open top deck sits near 40°F with the wind of a moving bus on top of it, and an August evening is still above 90°F at 10pm. The nightclub crawls enforce a dress code at the door: no jerseys, no hats, no athletic wear.
There is no bad month here, only a hotter one and a darker one, and the departures run through all twelve. They are compared side by side on Las Vegas Night Tours.
