Staying warm: February 2025 in Las Vegas was hotter, drier than normal

It hasn’t always heated up so quickly or been so bone-dry in Las Vegas this time of year.

However, Las Vegas just came off of the third-warmest February on record since 1937, according to Climate Central, a science nonprofit focused on climate change, or warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The city experienced an average temperature of 59.7 degrees — about 4.4 degrees hotter than normal.

And even though February is considered Las Vegas’ rainiest month, meteorologists said the 0.57 inches of rain was 71 percent of what is normally expected. The month still did bring the end to the city’s second-longest recorded dry streak, during which the Harry Reid International Airport monitoring station didn’t record measurable rain for 214 days in a row.

Since 1970, the month of February in Las Vegas has increased 3.6 degrees when compared with average temperatures, according to the nonprofit’s analysis.

And as the valley heats up, meteorologists expect drought conditions in Southern Nevada to persist, according to the federal drought outlook released Friday. As of Thursday’s update to the U.S. Drought Monitor, all of Clark County was considered under severe to exceptional drought.

When soils are drier throughout the Colorado River Basin, snowmelt that would have otherwise flowed into Lake Powell or Lake Mead is sucked up. Hotter temperatures arriving earlier can throw off the natural balance of the time of year snow is supposed to melt.

Snowpack is what fuels the Colorado River and Lake Mead, the source of 90 percent of Southern Nevada’s drinking water. Releases from Lake Powell eventually make their way into Southern Nevada’s source.

And that snowpack is disappointing water managers this year, too: Snowpack above Lake Powell was at 86 percent of normal as of Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monitoring system.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.