The year 2007 was warmer and drier than normal in Pahrump, according to statistics from the National Weather Service.

The annual mean temperature of 64.2 degrees was 2.2 degrees warmer than usual.

It was also 1.25 inches drier than normal, with 3.9 inches of precipitation in the rain gauge.

The normal is 5.15 inches, according to a 30-year National Weather Service average from 1971 through 2000. The Desert Research Institute monitoring station in Pahrump estimates average precipitation of 4.75 inches.

No precipitation at all was recorded by the Pahrump DRI monitoring station during February, May, June, July and October.

During the normally wetter winter months of January through March, when Pahrump typically receives just over two inches of rain, only 0.09 inch of precipitation was recorded.

August had 0.21 inch of precipitation. Then came the deluge of Sept. 21 with 2.47 inches of rain, almost half the annual average.

The average temperature was above normal for each month from February through November.

The average high temperature in March of 74.4 degrees was 6.5 degrees above the normal maximum, a trend that continued through the summer.

The average high during July 2007 was 104 degrees, 3.4 degrees hotter than normal. Overnight lows only cooled to 73.3 degrees in July, or 6.3 degrees warmer than usual.

The warmer than usual overnight low temperatures continued through the fall.

The annual 2007 average low temperature of 48.4 degrees was over 2.7 degrees higher than the 30-year average of 45.7 degrees. The annual average high temperature of 79.9 degrees for 2007 was 1.6 degrees warmer than the average 78.7 degrees.

The first 90-degree day recorded at the Pahrump DRI monitoring station was March 16. On June 1 the mercury first soared above 100, with a high of 103 degrees.

The hottest day was July 5, with a high of 115 degrees, during a four-day stretch when the mercury hit 110 degrees or more. There was only one day between June 13 and Aug. 1 where the temperature didn't crack the century mark.

The coldest day was Jan. 15 when the mercury plunged to 12 degrees, during a frigid six-day period where overnight lows sank below 20 degrees.

There were 53 nights below freezing during 2007. After 23 sub-freezing nights in January, the temperature went below freezing only once after Feb. 4, until just before Thanksgiving when a big chill arrived again Nov. 22.