March 2013 was second warmest on record in Las Vegas

By John Taylor (contact)

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 | noon

In case you didn’t notice, mild was a key word for Las Vegas weather forecasters last month.

March 2013 was one of the warmest Marches on record across the Mojave Desert, the National Weather Service’s Las Vegas office reported this week.

The average temperature of 64.8 degrees for the month was nearly 5 degrees higher than normal and marked the second-warmest March average since the National Weather Service began keeping records here in 1937.

The warmest March was in 2004 with an average temperature of 66.5 degrees.

The average high temperature during the month was 75.4, 5.1 degrees above normal and ninth-best all-time for March. Temperatures reached 80 or greater on nine March days, the most since March 2007 when the mercury rose past 80 on 12 occasions. The all-time record is 20 days over 80 set in March 1972.

The average low was 54.2, nearly 5 degrees above normal.

Forecasters attributed the warm March to a lingering area of high pressure centered over or just off of California. The loft helped keep a storm track well north of the Las Vegas Valley.

As a result, forecasters said, warm and dry weather dominated throughout the month and the lack of storm systems resulted in less wind than normal.

Extremes at McCarran International Airport, where Las Vegas’ official temperatures are recorded, put the month's high temperature at 87 on March 15. The lowest temperature was 44, on March 1 and March 8. March 8 was the coldest day of the month, relatively speaking, with the lowest high temperature of 53 degrees. The highest low temperature of the month, 63, was recorded on March 20.

McCarran recorded measurable precipitation on just two days during the month. For the month, .15 inches of precipitation was recorded, off nearly a third of an inch from normal.

Winds generally were mild, also, averaging 8.9 mph over the month and peaking at 30 mph on March 3.

The NWS said April was normally the third driest month of the year in Las Vegas. April also ties with May and June as the windiest month of the year based on average wind speed. The normal average daily high in Las Vegas in April is 78.3 and the average low for the month is 56.1.