With the tempatures in Las Vegas already hitting close to the 110 mark it's hard to believe that summer is JUST beginning.  Here's some interesting pieces of trivia for you:

• Furnace Creek in Death Valley CA holds the record for highest recorded temperature ever measured in the U.S. - July 10, 1913 - a sizzling 134 degrees!
• To beat the desert heat, the ancient Egyptians circulated water through the walls of homes to cool them, and ancient Persians cooled buildings using wind and pools of water.
• The 'year without summer" occured in 1816  when the northeastern  U.S. and Canada experienced snow and cold through most of the summer. An erupting volcano in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) was probably the cause of this.
• Average number of days per year the therometer breaks 110 F in Las Vegas is 9
• Hottest summer on record in Las Vegas had 29 days of 110+ temps (but I can't remember which year)

   

As summer quickly approaches (2 weeks from tomorrow) Las Vegas has already felt a taste of what's to come...the temperatures the last week have broken the 100 degree mark, although just barely...but it's a sign of what's to be this summer.  Yesterday...we started the ‘cool down' that the weather people here often talk about... a high in the mid-90's, but very strong winds helped make it seem a little bit cooler.  This morning I woke up at 7 a.m. to 65 degrees...it's BEAUTIFUL outside...this is what Las Vegas is all about!  Our high today is expected to be in the low to mid 80's.  According to my friend the weatherman, Brian Scofield on channel 13, it should stay this way through the end of the week and then the warm up will begin again.  God is so good to have given us this little reprieve before we get full force into summer!

Few pieces of trivia I thought you might be interested in:

Another piece of Las Vegas history bit the dust last night when the Stardust Casino was imploded.  The Stardust was one of the mainstays on the Las Vegas Strip, opening in 1958 and charging only $6 per night for a room, it was located on 63 acres of land off of Desert Inn and Las Vegas Blvd.  It was imploded to make room for a new Boyd Gaming Corporation project, Echelon Place.  Construction on Echelon Place  is scheduled to  start in 2007 and is projected to be completed by 2010.   Plans are for it to be on 87 acres  and is projected to be over 140,000 square feet with a cost of 4 BILLION dollars. 

Today, March 13, broke a record with our high tempature.  The weather topped out at 89 degrees. The highest tempature on record for March 13 was set in 1966 when the tempature hit 86 degrees.  And spring is still 8 days away!

The longest highway in Nevada runs between Las Vegas and Reno.  Innerstate 95 is 668 miles from one end to the other!

There are a total of 64 golf courses in Las Vegas.  There's never been a better time to buy a round of golf in Vegas. Even in this golfer's paradise, there are a few tricks to having a perfect par day. When booking a tee time, Friday through Sunday are the busiest, so look mid-week for more availability and better deals. For seasonal bargains, winter (65 degree days and sunshine) and summer in Vegas are ideal. Just remember, morning and evening tee times in summer fill up early so book in advance.

I came home this afternoon to water running down the driveway from my attached garage...thinking 'oh that's nice, hubby washed the garage floor down while I was slaving away!' NOT...walked in the house and lo and behold Niagra Falls was showing through my glass sliders to the backyard! Water knee high (well almost) in dining room, kitchen and hallway. Busted (frozen?) pipe! No plumbers available. Hubby and a good friend, and I managed to get the water turned off, locate the broken pipe (after tearing out half the dining room ceiling) and put a temporary patch on things. But it will take months to get the ceiling off my floor, and also to dry the carpet out! Hopefully the plumber will be able to get out sometime this week to fix the temporary patch with a permanent one.

Temperatures in Las Vegas have been ranging in the low 20's at night...mid 30's to mid 40's during the day.  According to tonight's local news our case above is not an isolated case.  MANY homes in Las Vegas have been affected by frozen pipes that break. Plumbers are working overtime, and it's hard to get one when there is no one available!  We are still waiting for a call back from the one our home warranty company contacted this afternoon.

Home warranties help with cost of repair; home insurance is just as important to help cover any damage done by the link.   If you need help selecting a good home warranty company or a good insurance company please do not hesitate to e-mail me.