2014 was warmest year on record in Phoenix

Amazing views of snow near the Superstition Mountains

Parker Leavitt and Jim Walsh, The Republicazcentral.com9:15 a.m. MST January 2, 2015


(Photo: Michael Schennum / The Republic)

Despite ending on a frigid note, with snow falling on the Valley's fringes, 2014 will enter the books as the warmest year on record in Phoenix, according to the National Weather Service.

The average temperature topped 77 degrees for the first time in Phoenix last year, breaking the previous record of 76.9 degrees set in 1989.

Only two months — August and September — did not reach above-average temperatures in 2014, and several months rank among the 10 warmest in Phoenix history, according to the Weather Service.

The jump in average temperature did not necessarily translate into a hotter summer, though. The number of 100-degree days remained consistent with the past 20 years in Phoenix, and there were actually fewer days with temperatures of 110 degrees or hotter.

Phoenix also broke a record for the warmest average low temperature in 2014 at 65.4 degrees, a full degree warmer than the previous record in 2003. The average high of 88.9 degrees in 2014 ranked as the second warmest on record, behind 1989, according to the Weather Service.

Here's a look at the five warmest years on record in Phoenix:
1. 2014: 77.1 degrees.
2. 1989: 76.9 degrees.
3. 2012: 76.7 degrees.
4. 2007: 76.4 degrees.
5. 2003: 76.3 degrees.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...cord/21169747/