Is it summer? Phoenix’s February sets mark for warmest on record

PHOENIX — The just-finished month will go down as a pretty warm February in Phoenix.

Record-setting, in fact.

The average high of nearly 80 degrees was the warmest ever recorded by the National Weather Service.

February was hot and dry indeed. Check out the End of the Month Climate Summary! #azwx pic.twitter.com/u41jyjyoE6

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) March 1, 2016

The Valley averaged slightly below 66 degrees and had the earliest 90-degree day on Feb. 17, cracking the previous mark by seven days.

Phoenix had 20 days at 80 degrees or above during the month, creeping past the mark of 16.

Preliminary rankings for Feb 2016 in Phoenix. #azwx pic.twitter.com/hjOBDwb8us

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) February 29, 2016

The month closed with the warmest noted Leap Day at 88 degrees.

Monday's high of 87° in Phx and 89° in Yuma would be the warmest #LeapDay. Here are some recent temps for the date. pic.twitter.com/yDmUIHyv6z

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) February 29, 2016

In addition to warm days, metro Phoenix went rainless in February for the seventh time.

Marvin Percha with the National Weather Service said March in the area will start with four straight days in the 90s, just in time for spring training.

Expected high for Tuesday was 90, Wednesday and Thursday were predicted to reach 91 and then a little drop Friday back down to 90.

Percha said those numbers were 15-18 degrees above normal. But that likely won’t stick around all next week.

“Early next week there’s a greater level of confidence that we see much cooler temperatures and a chance of rain,” he said.

It was all markedly different from January, when rain and thunderstorms pushed down temperatures in the Valley into the 50s.

And while rain was falling in metro Phoenix, snow was blanketing parts of northern Arizona. Flagstaff was covered in 2 feet of snow over two day early into the new year.

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