Published: December 29,2014
Las Vegas
and Paris have a few things in common. They're both popular tourist
destinations. And they both have an Eiffel Tower and an Arc de Triomphe
-- the Vegas replicas are part of a hotel-casino complex called Paris
Las Vegas.
But the weather is one thing these two cities haven't often had in common -- until now.
Paris is known for its mild summers, cool and very cloudy winters, moderate but consistent rainfall year-round, and the occasional summer thunderstorm or winter snowstorm.
Vegas, on the other hand, sits in a desert, with its scant annual rainfall often coming in sudden bursts during the summer monsoon. It's well known for its extremely hot summertime temperatures. In fact, Sin City's average daily high of 105 degrees in late July is equal to the all-time record high in Paris since modern recordkeeping began in the late 19th century.
What these two cities now do have in common is that they've just reached the end of their longest unfrozen spells in recorded history. The streaks ended a day apart -- and amazingly, began a day apart more than a year ago.
But the weather is one thing these two cities haven't often had in common -- until now.
Paris is known for its mild summers, cool and very cloudy winters, moderate but consistent rainfall year-round, and the occasional summer thunderstorm or winter snowstorm.
Vegas, on the other hand, sits in a desert, with its scant annual rainfall often coming in sudden bursts during the summer monsoon. It's well known for its extremely hot summertime temperatures. In fact, Sin City's average daily high of 105 degrees in late July is equal to the all-time record high in Paris since modern recordkeeping began in the late 19th century.
What these two cities now do have in common is that they've just reached the end of their longest unfrozen spells in recorded history. The streaks ended a day apart -- and amazingly, began a day apart more than a year ago.
McCarran
International Airport, the official weather observation site for Las
Vegas, reached 30 degrees Monday morning, Dec. 29. That followed 381
consecutive days without any temperatures at or below freezing -- a
streak that began Dec. 13, 2013 after a freeze the previous morning.
This set a new record for the longest unfrozen streak, if you will, on record in Las Vegas. The old record was 378 straight days from Dec. 8, 2011 through Dec. 19, 2012.
This was of course the first freeze of 2014, and that makes it the latest first freeze in history for Las Vegas -- the previous record being Dec. 20 in 2012. Las Vegas, which was just an unoccupied stretch of desert until 1905, started keeping complete weather records in 1937.
While much of the U.S. has had an unusually cool year, the West has been a stark exception. NOAA's National Climatic Data Center says the first 11 months of 2014 were the warmest on record for Las Vegas, as well as for the neighboring states of Arizona and California.
The cold weather pattern could set the stage for Vegas to see its first accumulating snow in years as Winter Storm Frona approaches.
(MORE: Frona Prompts Winter Storm Watch for Las Vegas)
This set a new record for the longest unfrozen streak, if you will, on record in Las Vegas. The old record was 378 straight days from Dec. 8, 2011 through Dec. 19, 2012.
This was of course the first freeze of 2014, and that makes it the latest first freeze in history for Las Vegas -- the previous record being Dec. 20 in 2012. Las Vegas, which was just an unoccupied stretch of desert until 1905, started keeping complete weather records in 1937.
While much of the U.S. has had an unusually cool year, the West has been a stark exception. NOAA's National Climatic Data Center says the first 11 months of 2014 were the warmest on record for Las Vegas, as well as for the neighboring states of Arizona and California.
The cold weather pattern could set the stage for Vegas to see its first accumulating snow in years as Winter Storm Frona approaches.
(MORE: Frona Prompts Winter Storm Watch for Las Vegas)
Paris,
which had already existed for more than 2,000 years before Las Vegas
was even founded, began keeping weather records in 1873 at Parc
Montsouris, where official Paris weather observations are still recorded
today.
Like Las Vegas, Paris also just had its first freeze of 2014 when the mercury at Parc Montsouris dipped to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0.0 degrees Celsius) at 8 a.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Paris's 379-day unfrozen streak ended a day earlier than Las Vegas's -- and started a day later, on Dec. 14, 2013, following a freeze on Dec. 13.
As you might expect for a city that lies farther north than most of the contiguous U.S., going more than a year without a single minute of freezing temperatures in Paris is quite extraordinary. The previous record-long streak without a freeze in Paris was only 328 days in 1990 -- more than 7 weeks shorter than the new record!
Paris eventually dropped to 26.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.9 degrees below zero Celsius) on Monday morning, its coldest reading since reaching 22.1 degrees Fahrenheit on March 13, 2013.
According to Meteo-France, Paris averages 25 days of freezing temperatures each year. However, this year has been exceptionally warm across France and much of Europe, and the agency says it's almost certain 2014 will be the warmest year for the French mainland since national records began in 1900.
The chill is part of a pattern change that has brought cold and snow to much of Europe in recent days.
MORE: U.K. Christmas Freeze, 2014
Like Las Vegas, Paris also just had its first freeze of 2014 when the mercury at Parc Montsouris dipped to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0.0 degrees Celsius) at 8 a.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Paris's 379-day unfrozen streak ended a day earlier than Las Vegas's -- and started a day later, on Dec. 14, 2013, following a freeze on Dec. 13.
As you might expect for a city that lies farther north than most of the contiguous U.S., going more than a year without a single minute of freezing temperatures in Paris is quite extraordinary. The previous record-long streak without a freeze in Paris was only 328 days in 1990 -- more than 7 weeks shorter than the new record!
Paris eventually dropped to 26.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.9 degrees below zero Celsius) on Monday morning, its coldest reading since reaching 22.1 degrees Fahrenheit on March 13, 2013.
According to Meteo-France, Paris averages 25 days of freezing temperatures each year. However, this year has been exceptionally warm across France and much of Europe, and the agency says it's almost certain 2014 will be the warmest year for the French mainland since national records began in 1900.
The chill is part of a pattern change that has brought cold and snow to much of Europe in recent days.
MORE: U.K. Christmas Freeze, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment