Dry eyes in Las Vegas

Las Vegas air is very dry, and visitors often feel it in their eyes within a day or two. NOAA’s normals give the airport 4.18 inches of precipitation a year, and its humidity tables put June afternoons at 10 percent. Add air-conditioned casinos, wind-blown dust and late nights, and the tear film evaporates quickly. Breaks, blinking, sunglasses and a labeled lubricating drop help.

How dry is Las Vegas, by the numbers

NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for the airport weather station, still listed in the data under its old McCarran name, put normal annual precipitation at 4.18 inches. The National Weather Service office in Las Vegas notes that’s a hair below the 4.19 inches of the previous normals. May and June are the driest months, with normals of 0.07 and 0.04 inches. February is the wettest, at 0.80 inches.

NOAA’s Comparative Climatic Data tables give one morning and one afternoon humidity average per month. For Las Vegas the yearly figures are 36 percent in the morning and 20 percent in the afternoon. June afternoons average 10 percent, the lowest of the three desert cities we’ve looked at in these guides. Even December afternoons only reach 32 percent.

Heat on the Strip and in the suburbs

The same normals count about 78 days a year at 100°F or hotter, and the normal high in July is 104.5°F. Winters are mild in comparison, with a normal December high of 56.9°F, and the airport records only about 10 nights a year at or below freezing. The Weather Service notes that the airport can run 5 to 15 degrees warmer at night than outlying parts of the valley, so Henderson, Summerlin and the northwest often feel cooler after dark.

Casino air, hotel rooms and late nights

A trip to Las Vegas tends to stack several things that dry the eyes on top of each other. Casino floors and hotel towers are air-conditioned around the clock, and the cooling dries the air further. Slot machines and video poker keep your eyes fixed on a bright screen, which cuts down blinking. Conventions mean hours under bright lights in large halls. Then come late nights, short sleep and a flight home in a dry cabin.

• Step outside or into a quieter area every hour or so and blink fully a few times.
• In the hotel room, turn the AC fan off its highest setting and keep it from blowing toward the bed.
• Drink water between drinks; the desert dehydrates people who don’t feel thirsty.
• Pack drops in your carry-on so they’re with you on the plane, not in a checked bag.
• Take a real night’s sleep at least once in a long trip; tired eyes feel drier.

Dry eyes from wind and dust

The Las Vegas Valley covers about 600 square miles, ringed by mountains that, according to the National Weather Service, rise roughly 2,000 to 10,000 feet above the valley floor; Mount Charleston tops out at 11,918 feet. The Weather Service notes that winds over 50 mph are infrequent but that strong winds here often carry blowing dust and sand. Spring is when many locals notice it, as fronts sweep through and pick up grit from open desert and construction sites.

• Check the forecast for wind or dust advisories and plan outdoor time around them.
• Wraparound sunglasses keep blowing grit off the eyes far better than flat lenses.
• If something gets in your eye, rinse with clean water instead of rubbing.
• Change your home’s air filter more often in windy months.

Living in Las Vegas versus visiting

Visitors tend to notice the dryness most at the start of a trip, while for residents it’s more of a background condition that flares with wind and heat. If you live here, a few habits help year-round: a humidifier in the bedroom, airflow aimed away from your face in the car, and regular screen breaks at work. Hikers at Red Rock Canyon or on Mount Charleston should add sunglasses and plan for the extra wind and sun up high.

Snow is a novelty. The Weather Service says measurable snow at the official station typically happens once every four or five years, and the normal annual snowfall there is 0.2 inches. So in Las Vegas, unlike mountain towns, winter dryness comes from furnace heat and cool dry fronts rather than snowpack and altitude.

Using a lubricating drop in Las Vegas

Quell’s Uses line reads: For use as a protectant against further irritation or to relieve dryness of the eye. Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss, and that oil layer is what slows evaporation in very dry air. The directions are short: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. You can order it to a Las Vegas address from our Las Vegas page, and the Nevada page covers Reno, Henderson and the rest of the state.

Don’t leave a bottle in a rental car or by a pool in July. The storage line reads: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A parked car in a Las Vegas summer gets far hotter than that. Keep it in a day bag or the hotel room. If you’re flying home with it, traveling with eye drops covers carry-on liquids.

Before you use it, read the caution: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The bottle-tip line matters on the go: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. And the label’s stop-use line: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours. A long weekend of dry eyes is common in this city; pain, light sensitivity or blurred vision that doesn’t clear is not something to wait out.