The city of Needles is described as the gateway to California, located in the heart of the Colorado River recreation area, just minutes from Nevada. It’s known for its boating, water-skiing, fishing and other river activities.

But more recently Needles, in the sun-baked Mojave Desert, attained a dubious distinction you won’t find on the Chamber of Commerce website or in any brochures. The town on Monday set a world record for hottest rainfall: a remarkable 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jeff Masters of Weather Underground reported this news Wednesday, when he wrote, “Monday’s rain at 115 degrees in Needles sets a new world record for the hottest rain in world history. I don’t think many people were outside to experience the feeling of rain falling at 115 degrees, but if they were, it must have been an uncomfortable, sauna-like experience! “

Dr. Warren Blier of the National Weather Service also reported the news.

Fortunately, most of the precipitation evaporated quickly, thanks to 11 percent humidity.

Explains Masters: “It is exceedingly rare to get rain when the temperature rises above 100 degrees F, since those kinds of temperatures usually require a high-pressure system with sinking air that discourages rainfall.

“Monday’s rain in Needles was due to a flow of moisture coming from the south caused by the Southwest U.S. monsoon, a seasonal influx of moisture caused by the difference in temperature between the hot desert and the cooler ocean areas surrounding Mexico to the south.”

The previous record for hottest rain was 109 degrees in Mecca, Saudia Arabia, on June 5, 2012; and in Marrakech, Morocco, on July 10, 2010.

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