February is off to second-warmest start in Phoenix history

PHOENIX — It’s not your imagination: The weather is hotter than normal in Phoenix.

The National Weather Service said the city was in the midst of its second-warmest February on record. The agency said the average temperature this month has been 61.6 degrees, just 0.3 degrees off from the record set 14 years ago.

“A normal high this time of year is around 70 degrees,” meteorologist Jaret Rogers said.

“[We’re] running at least 10 degrees above normal each day going back into late January for almost every single day. That’s pretty unusual to have a stretch of that warm of weather.”

Rogers said he and his colleagues were slightly optimistic about a sprinkle of rain this weekend, but those hopes were dashed.

“We were a little bit excited [Tuesday],” he said. “It looked like maybe Sunday we’d have at least a really slight chance but that storm system has trended weaker, so we now might have to wait until next week for any chance of rain.”

It turned out that Rogers’ hopes could be answered on Tuesday, when there is a 30 percent chance of rain.

Even if no precipitation falls, things will be cooler next week. The weather service’s forecast called for highs to drop into the mid-70s over the weekend and a high of just 70 next Wednesday.

KTAR News’ Jim Cross contributed to this report.

Follow @KTAR923