Does CSI Las Vegas accurately depict how much it rains there?

August 7, 2009 10:27 PM

Does it really rain as much in Las Vegas as it looks on CSI?

It sure seems like it rains a lot in Las Vegas- at least in the Crime Scene Investigation version of Vegas. I know it rains about 4.5 inches a year, but anyone know how many days a year it rains in Las Vegas (and can compare it to how much it seems to rain in the show)?

posted by arnicae to grab bag (8 comments total)

I'm thinking that most of the filming is actually done in L.A. (Except for stock outdoor and distance shots)
posted by jkaczor at 10:30 PM on August 7

In 2008 there were 21 days in Las Vegas in which there was measurable precipitation (including snow). The average is 26 days per year.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:48 PM on August 7

I came here to say what Chocolate Pickle said.

CSI: New York (first season) started out the same way, very dark and gloomy and apparently attempting to differentiate itself from the perpetually sunny and super-saturated CSI: Miami show. It was perplexing and amusing, but they quickly stopped doing that.

I guess it's all about atmosphere. Kind of how every single motel in Las Vegas has one 20 watt light bulb flickering dimly and they practically do autopsies by candlelight. I'm a fan of the show, despite (and maybe because of) some of it's hilarious idiosyncrasies.
posted by empyrean at 10:56 PM on August 7

It's a well established film makers habit - especially for night scenes - the wet makes everything in a night scene seem more crisp/sharp. The light plays better off a wet street than a dry one.
posted by FlamingBore at 12:31 AM on August 8 [1 favorite]

I'm thinking that most of the filming is actually done in L.A. (Except for stock outdoor and distance shots)

One of the huge failings of so much film noir is that, despite being set in LA and the environs, it rains constantly.

LA doesn't get that much rain either.
posted by Netzapper at 1:20 AM on August 8

Rain is now you make "noir" if you are shooting in a desert. See Ridley Scott in Bladerunner where he spent 50 nights shooting rain scenes - in a supposedly LA-based film as a classic example. Apart from suiting the mood of the standard combination of rain and night means that there are fewer details of the set that need to be (expensively) rendered accurately - and less need to work around day time traffic - so it can be cheaper to produce.
posted by rongorongo at 2:18 AM on August 8

While I was living in Las Vegas (a 5 year stint), we had a 9 month stretch without a drop of rain. So no, it doesn't rain much.
posted by JeffK at 7:18 AM on August 8

You'll also notice that many car commercials are shot on wet roads, they just look better to the camera than the dull, flat dry ones do.
posted by tommasz at 8:27 AM on August 8