It’s been really cold and wet in Las Vegas this winter. A lot of rain - for here - and temperatures very far below what we’re used to. We’ve had rain at least one day in each of the last six weeks...that’s a LOT more than we usually get.
Well, 50+ feet of snow in the Tahoe areas this winter. So far.
The February temperature departures from normal were stunning. Several major climate locations averaged 27 to 28 degrees below normal, which were the most extreme in the Lower 48 for a full month since January 1969...
Great Falls, Montana, was at the heart of it. The mercury didn't rise above zero on 11 days and dropped to zero or below on 24 nights. Only the first day of the month topped freezing. Its average February temperature finished 27.5 degrees below normal.
On March 3, the low temperature tanked to a bone-chilling minus-32 in Great Falls. Combined with a high of minus-8, the day finished a whopping 50 degrees below normal. The city concluded its longest stretch on record below freezing on March 7.
I’ve lived in Las Vegas for the past 11 years and this is the most rain by far in the time I’ve spent here. We usually get thunderstorms occasionally during the summer but not winter rains.