Valley temperatures likely to hit new high

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.

The Las Vegas Valley tied a 40-year-old high temperature record Wednesday, when the thermometer hit 111 degrees, the National Weather Service reported. The last time the high reached 111 on Aug. 14 was in 1962.

Today forecasters say the daytime high of 111 degrees set in 1994 could be tied or broken as well, weather service meteorologist John Adair said.

There is no rain in sight. The Southwest monsoon flow, which generally brings rain to the Las Vegas Valley from July through September, is heading toward Mexico, which is a typical pattern for fall, not August.

"It's pretty amazing for August," Adair said. "About the only thing to get excited about is temperature."

The highest temperature recorded in Las Vegas was 117 degrees on July 24, 1942, according to the weather service records kept since 1937.

The heat is on now, because a dome of high pressure is sitting like a lid over most of the West and extends out over the Pacific Ocean. The lid may start to move in a few days.

A cold front moving into the Pacific Northwest today may push southward and lower temperatures to about 100 degrees by early next week, Adair said.

If the high pressure system moves, not only will temperatures drop slightly, but the valley will have more breezy conditions.

Las Vegas is not the only place setting record temperatures.

Death Valley thermometers reached 124 degrees on Wednesday, tying another high. That record was set in 1933, weather service meteorologist Charlie Schlott said.