What Is the Average Temperature in Las Vegas in October?
The average temperature in Las Vegas in October is 70.4°F. That daily mean comes from an average high of 81.2°F and an average low of 59.6°F at the Harry Reid International Airport station beside the Strip, and the month brings only about a third of an inch of rain.
Those numbers hold across the built-up valley: Henderson averages highs of 78°F and lows of 60°F. Where October changes is outside the city, and mostly after dark. Afternoons at most of the 17 places here stay within a few degrees of 80°F, while the lows fall from 59.6°F in Las Vegas to 47.3°F at Red Rock Canyon and 34.7°F in Mount Charleston.
Elevation explains most of it. Laughlin, at 560 feet, is the warmest Nevada town in the table; Mount Charleston, at 7,510 feet, is the coolest place within a short drive of the Strip.
Our picks
- Escaping the heat on a warm October day: Mount Charleston. Averages a 61.6°F high and a 34.7°F low in October, about 20 degrees below the city's afternoons.
- Still warm enough to be on the water: Laughlin. On the Colorado River, with October averages of 88.7°F highs and 61.3°F lows, the warmest Nevada row in the table.
At a glance
| Option | October Average Temperature | October Average High | October Average Low | October Record High | October Rainfall | Elevation | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70.4source | 81.2source | 59.6source | 104source | 0.32source | 2,000source | Las Vegas Valleysource | |
| 78source | 60source | 100source | 0.36source | 1,867source | Las Vegas Valleysource | ||
| 76.1source | 47.3source | 97source | 0.52source | 3,870source | Spring Mountainssource | ||
| 48.2source | 61.6source | 34.7source | 83source | 1.79source | 7,510source | Spring Mountainssource | |
| 79.8source | 58.5source | 106source | 0.32source | 2,510source | Lake Mead & the Colorado Riversource | ||
| 69.1source | 85.8source | 52.3source | 111source | 0.48source | Lake Mead & the Colorado Riversource | ||
| 75source | 88.7source | 61.3source | 109source | 0.34source | 560source | Lake Mead & the Colorado Riversource | |
| 71.2source | 82.5source | 60source | 102source | 0.42source | 1,581source | Mojave Desertsource | |
| 62.8source | 80.8source | 44.8source | 103source | 0.38source | 2,697source | Mojave Desertsource | |
| 77source | 53.9source | 98source | 0.52source | 3,547source | Mojave Desertsource | ||
| 86.7source | 48.7source | 106source | 0.64source | 1,601source | Mojave Desertsource | ||
| 78.9source | 93.3source | 64.4source | 114source | 0.12source | Mojave Desertsource | ||
| 63.4source | 78.1source | 48.8source | 99source | 1.22source | Southwestern Utahsource | ||
| 45source | 58.2source | 31.9source | 80source | 1.73source | Southwestern Utahsource | ||
| 63source | 78.8source | 47.3source | 101source | 0.77source | 2,530source | Southwestern Utahsource | |
| 49source | 64.6source | 33.3source | 89source | 1.23source | 6,804source | Northern Arizonasource | |
| 63.6source | 78.9source | 48.3source | 102source | 0.74source | 3,471source | Northern Arizonasource |
How cold October mornings get around Las Vegas
The airport station sits on pavement, so Las Vegas stays mild overnight at 59.6°F. Leave the city and the mornings drop quickly. Pahrump's afternoons match the city at 80.8°F, but its lows average 44.8°F, a 36-degree daily swing. Red Rock Canyon, about 15 miles west at 3,870 feet, averages a 47.3°F low, more than 12 degrees colder than the Strip, so an early trail start calls for a jacket.
Higher up it gets close to freezing. Mount Charleston averages 34.7°F overnight, Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim 33.3°F, and Bryce Canyon 31.9°F. Anyone combining the Strip with a rim or mountain day needs to pack for both ends.
Record October highs: how hot early October can still be
Averages hide the hot start of the month. Las Vegas has reached 104°F in October. Valley of Fire's record is 102°F, which is why a midday hike there in early October can still be a bad idea, and shade is scarce. Laughlin's record is 109°F, Overton's 111°F and Death Valley's 114°F.
Death Valley is the extreme on both counts. October is the first month a visit is comfortable rather than hazardous, yet its average high is still 93.3°F, four degrees above anything else in the table, and it gets just 0.12 inches of rain.
Rain and cold on a Zion, Bryce or Grand Canyon side trip
The desert rows get well under an inch of rain in October, but the plateau parks do not. Zion averages 1.22 inches, Grand Canyon Village 1.23 (roughly four times the city's total), and Bryce Canyon 1.73. In Nevada, Mount Charleston is the wet exception at 1.79 inches. Zion and Bryce are often paired on one loop, yet Bryce's 31.9°F lows run about 17 degrees colder than Zion's 48.8°F. St. George, the usual stop between Las Vegas and Zion, reads as a cooler Las Vegas: 78.8°F by day and 47.3°F at night.
The options in detail
Las Vegas
An average October day in Las Vegas reaches about 81°F in the afternoon and falls to about 60°F overnight, which works out to a daily mean near 70°F. The readings come from the NOAA station at Harry Reid International Airport, right beside the Strip, so this row describes the Las Vegas a visitor actually stands in rather than a regional average. Rain is close to irrelevant: about a third of an inch is normal for the whole month. Heat has not entirely gone, though. The October record at this station is 104°F, so an early-month afternoon can still feel like summer.
Henderson
Henderson is the valley's second city, about 16 miles southeast of Las Vegas, and its October numbers land within a couple of degrees of the airport's: highs near 78°F and lows near 60°F. Read that small gap as noise rather than signal, because this row's climate table is credited to Weather.com rather than to the NOAA normals behind most of the table. What it does establish is that no part of the built-up valley is meaningfully cooler in October than any other part.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
Red Rock Canyon is about 15 miles west of Las Vegas, pressed against the Spring Mountains, and the roughly 3,870-foot elevation of its scenic loop is what makes it feel unlike the Strip. October afternoons average about 76°F, four or five degrees below the airport, but the nights are the real difference: an average low of 47°F is more than 12 degrees colder than the city, so an early start on the trails wants a jacket even when the afternoon does not. These figures come from the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park station inside the conservation area, credited to the Western Regional Climate Center.
Mount Charleston
The town of Mount Charleston sits at about 7,510 feet in the Spring Mountains northwest of Las Vegas, and it is the coolest place in this table that is still a short drive from the Strip. October averages a high of 62°F and a low of 35°F, so the valley's 80-degree afternoons become sweater weather and the nights flirt with frost. It is also the wettest Nevada row here, near 1.8 inches of October precipitation against a third of an inch in the city. When Las Vegas in October feels too warm, this is the standard local answer.
Boulder City
Boulder City was built to house the workers who put up Hoover Dam, and it sits about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas at 2,510 feet, a few miles from Lake Mead. Its October readings, from a Western Regional Climate Center station, track the airport closely: highs near 80°F, lows near 59°F, and the same negligible third of an inch of rain. For a visitor the difference is water rather than air, since this is the jumping-off point for the lake and the dam.
Overton
Overton is part of Moapa Valley at the north end of Lake Mead, about an hour northeast of Las Vegas, and it runs warmer by day and colder by night than the city: an average October high near 86°F against lows near 52°F. That 33-degree daily swing is the widest of the Nevada valley-floor rows and is what open desert away from pavement does. October has reached 111°F here. Its Wikipedia article states no elevation, so that cell is left blank.
Laughlin
Laughlin is the warmest Nevada town in this table in October, with average highs near 89°F, because at 560 feet it is also the lowest. It lies 90 miles south of Las Vegas on the Colorado River, downstream of Davis Dam and across the water from Bullhead City, Arizona. Nights stay mild at about 61°F. If the point of an October trip is to still be on the water, this is the row to sort by.
Valley of Fire State Park
Nevada's oldest state park sits in the Mojave Desert about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and October is the month its red sandstone becomes comfortably walkable: highs of 82°F, lows of 60°F, and a daily mean of 71°F, almost exactly the Las Vegas figure. The October record is 102°F, so the first half of the month can still be hot enough to make a midday hike a bad idea. Shade is scarce here, which matters more than the averages let on.
Pahrump
Pahrump lies about 50 miles west of Las Vegas over the mountains, in the Mojave Desert at 2,697 feet. Its October afternoons are close to the city's at about 81°F, but its nights are far colder at about 45°F: a 36-degree daily swing, the widest in this table. Warm afternoons and genuinely cold mornings is what a desert basin does in October once it is away from a city's heat.
Searchlight
Searchlight is a small town about an hour south of Las Vegas, sitting at 3,547 feet on the saddle between two mountain ranges, and its own article makes the point that this height keeps it cooler than the low Mojave towns nearby. October highs average 77°F with lows of 54°F. Its climate table comes from the Western Regional Climate Center and publishes no monthly mean, so that cell is blank.
Mesquite
Mesquite sits 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 at the Arizona line, in the Virgin River valley at the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert. October is warm by day and cool by night: highs of about 87°F against lows near 49°F. At 0.64 inches it is also the wettest of the low-desert Nevada rows, though that is still under an inch for the month. Its station publishes no monthly mean.
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest of the national parks, and October is the first month when a visit is comfortable rather than hazardous: average highs of 93°F, well down from summer, with lows near 64°F. It is still the warmest row in this table by four degrees, and the month's record is 114°F. Rain is almost nonexistent at 0.12 inches. These readings describe the valley floor around Furnace Creek rather than the ranges that surround it, and the park spans too much elevation for one figure, so that cell is blank.
Zion National Park
Zion is the classic October trade for a Las Vegas trip: an average high of 78°F instead of the city's 81°F, but nights at 49°F and more than an inch of rain across the month. The park runs from 3,666 feet at Coalpits Wash to 8,726 feet at Horse Ranch Mountain, so a rim trail is nothing like the canyon floor these readings describe, and no single elevation fits the park.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce is the cold end of this table: an average October high of 58°F and an average low of 32°F, exactly freezing, with 1.73 inches of precipitation. The rim stands between 8,000 and 9,000 feet, more than a mile above Las Vegas, which is the entire explanation. It sits a short drive beyond Zion on the usual loop out of Las Vegas, yet its nights run some 17 degrees colder, which is worth knowing before packing for both.
St. George
St. George is the largest city in southwestern Utah and the natural overnight stop between Las Vegas and Zion. October there is a few degrees milder than Las Vegas by day at about 79°F and a dozen degrees colder at night at about 47°F. It sits at 2,530 feet on the northeastern tip of the Mojave Desert, which is why it reads as a cooler version of Las Vegas rather than as mountain weather.
Grand Canyon Village
The South Rim village sits at 6,804 feet, and in October that means an average high of 65°F with an average low of 33°F: near-freezing mornings on the rim while Las Vegas is still in the 80s. It also collects 1.23 inches of rain for the month, roughly four times the city's total. Anyone driving out from Las Vegas for a day at the canyon in October should read this row as an instruction to pack a real coat.
Kingman
Kingman sits at 3,471 feet on the eastern edge of the Mojave Desert in Mohave County, Arizona, and is the usual fuel-and-food stop on the drive from Las Vegas toward Route 66 and the canyon's western rim. October highs average 79°F with lows near 48°F: a plateau version of Las Vegas weather, with similar afternoons and notably colder mornings.
How we researched this
The places here are all within a day's drive of Las Vegas, and each one's October figures come from the climate table in its own Wikipedia article. Most are NOAA normals for 1991 to 2020, including the Las Vegas airport row, and a second source averaging 2010 to 2019 gives the same month 82°F and 60°F. Henderson's table is credited to Weather.com, and Boulder City, Red Rock Canyon, Searchlight and Mesquite come from Western Regional Climate Center stations, so a degree or two between rows is a difference in source, not in climate.
Places were left out when their data would not compare: North Las Vegas's climate table names no source, Indian Springs' record is a century-long average rather than a modern normal, and Wikipedia carries no climate table for communities such as Summerlin and Enterprise. A blank daily mean means that station publishes only highs and lows; a blank elevation means the park spans thousands of feet (Death Valley, Zion, Bryce) or, for Overton, the page gives none. These are long-term averages, not a forecast for any particular week.