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On Feb. 14, Las Vegas received its first Valentine’s Day snowfall on record. The National Weather Service began keeping records in 1937.

Many factors influence an area's likelihood of snowfall. The three most important are humidity, temperature and longitude, according to a study published in the Journal of Arid Land. The study listed elevation, aspect and latitude as secondary factors, and slope and wind speed as tertiary factors.

Las Vegas, which is located in the Mojave Desert, has a relatively low longitude and elevation and is a considerable distance away from the moisture of the Pacific Ocean. These characteristics give it a warm, dry climate, making snow a rare occurrence — about once in five years.

Northern Nevada’s higher longitude and elevation, and higher humidity in the northwest, afford this part of the state more snowfall. Reno, for instance, gets snow an average of 14 days a year.