July fifth hottest on the books

As the eastern part of the country bundles through an unseasonably cool summer, Las Vegas blazed into the record books by having the fifth warmest July ever.

Meteorologists said the month melted into August with an average temperature of 94.7 degrees, boasting the hottest day of the year on July 18. The 113-degree day bested last year's record-maker of 111 degrees.

But the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said the record is only a tenth of a degree different than the previous hottest Julys of 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

"You notice how all of the warmest Julys are in the 2000s," meteorologist Chris Stachelski said.

He said development in the city and official gauges at McCarran International Airport, which is in a geographic warm spot and the official monitoring site, for the trend.

Low temperatures also factored into making July so hot.

Record high-low temperatures were reached twice in July. On July 28, the lowest temperature for the day was 90 degrees, which was 3 degrees higher than the previous record set in 2003. On July 27, the high-low was 87, breaking the 2008 record of 86 for the date.

Storms that thundered through the Las Vegas Valley in July couldn't make their own name in the record books.

Only 0.29 inches of rain fell at the official monitoring site in July, but Stachelski said some neighborhoods got a lot more and others got less.

Normal rain levels for July are 0.44 inches, he said, and Las Vegas stayed well under that mark.

Projections for August seem normal, Stachelski said. The 90-day forecast includes similar weather patterns as July. An area of high pressure is expected to roll through the valley during the month and temperatures will stay steady at normal levels.

Next week's forecast calls for a 10 percent to 15 percent chance of rain and temperatures between 103 and 107 with lows in the mid-80s.

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.