Las Vegas ‘leaps’ to record: 20 days in February above 70 degrees

Leap day stacked the deck for February 2016.

If not for a few cool days in the beginning of the month, February of 2016 could have been the hottest in Las Vegas.

“We were pretty cool those first few days, and that’s what hurt us,” National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Gorelow said.

But the Leap Year granted 2016’s February a bonus record: one extra day in the month, which happened to be above 80 degrees, rounded out the month with a consecutive 20-day-streak of highs of at least 70, Gorelow said.

The previous record-holder was reached in 2015 with 19 days.

Despite the extra day, the month still had a strong showing overall.

The hottest recorded February in Las Vegas occurred in 2015, according to the weather service. The second-highest was the February of 1995. February 2016 placed third among the hottest Februarys.

In addition to being among the hottest, February 2016 holds another distinction: it was among the driest on record.

Traditionally, Februarys are the wettest months in Las Vegas, receiving on average about 0.76 inches of rain, according to the weather service. But February 2016 saw rainfall of only 0.09 inches.

Gorelow was hesitant to rule on the warmer months in recent years. “It’s hard to say if it’s a trend.”

The unseasonably high temperatures are expected to continue. A week of warm weather is expected before temperatures fall.

Monday’s high reached 82 degrees, the weather service said. Temperatures this week are likely to remain well above average, meteorologist John Pierce said. They are expected to stay in the high 70s, peaking Wednesday at 81 degrees and falling back to 77 degrees by Friday.

Monday might see a few high clouds, but will be mostly sunny, he said.

Winds are expected to remain below 10 mph for Monday and most of the week, with wind speeds possibly increasing to 15 mph Thursday, Pierce said.

Cooler temperatures and maybe some rain can be expected in the valley this weekend.

“The earliest we would see a slight chance of rain in the valley is Sunday,” Pierce said.

Pierce said that during the month of February, Las Vegas was dominated by high pressure because of the higher-than-average temperatures, which “kept us warm and dry” by steering away systems that could have brought rain. The chance of rain will increase along with lower temperatures coming at the end of this week.

Contact Christian Bertolaccini at cbertolaccini@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @bertolaccinic.