Hot weather expected, with near-record highs

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008 | 9:12 a.m.

National Weather Service, Las Vegas

The thermometer is expected to jump three to five degrees above normal in the upcoming week, sending Southern Nevada on a hot spell into the three-day Labor Day weekend.

The National Weather Service said that heat warnings will be issued if highs are expected at 108 degrees or higher starting Monday. The high for Monday is projected to reach 106 degrees, but that could change within a day, forecasters say.

Normal daytime temperatures are 101 to 103 degrees. Daytime highs are expected to range from 104 to 108 degrees in the coming week.

Some humid air will try to work its way back into the southwest, especially northwestern Arizona and Southern California, but no thunderstorms are expected in the Las Vegas Valley at this time.

Las Vegas has has 66 days of summer temperatures in the triple digits, in contrast to 72 days last year, the weather service said. Our highs this coming week are expected to tie or break that record.

With 108 degrees possible a week from today, Las Vegas may set record-high daytime temperatures for this summer.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By BorisR

8/23/08 at 9:23 a.m.

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I still wonder where all the water comes from if it's so hot all year through. I mean, millions of people need water, day-after-day, and it's in the midst of the desert...
This is such a great city so hopefully the officials are already working out a project for water pipelines from the north and such. If you watch how the water level of Lake Mead has been going down in the last few years, it's getting a bit scary if you're being asked whether there will be Las Vegas in 10-15 years from now. I mean, it's not getting cooler in that area, is it?
By neiman1

8/23/08 at 6:13 p.m.

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How about the energy to cool the place? Of course with the current NO Drill, No nuclear, No coal policy of our Sen Reid, we don't have as many homes to cool, hotel rooms to cool, nor soon office and schools to cool. The visitors aren't coming and the jobs are drying up. Contact Harry Reid and tell him we want American energy for American jobs now.

email link
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm...

Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030
By uddeboda

8/23/08 at 11:35 p.m.

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Boris.
You ask the same questions as I would have. Millions live in the State, and its not the only state that has water shortage problems, so where does the water come from. You cant continue "stealing" it all the time from the rivers, because as they diminish over the next years and decades, where will the water come from. Underground perhaps, I dont think so. There could well be huge amounts underground, but these reserves have been there for centuries, and when you start taking it they wont be refilled. Just look at the the Gulf states, they have been taking water from underground, and now they are down to 1000 meters, and finally have they stopped taking it up. Water is life, and in the future wars will be fought over water.
By BorisR

8/24/08 at 8 a.m.

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Hi uddeboda

I fully agree with you on your thoughts. Future wars will probably, if not eventually, fought for food and water. Desalination takes a lot of energy and is therefore only an option once all other existing resources have been completely exploited. Regardless of all environal concerns, human kind obviously prefers to destroy his own livingground instead of working out reasonnable solutions first.

In Switzerland, there's still plenty of water. I live in a community at the bottom of a big mountain and there's a lot of spring water coming from. Right in front of my house there's a little fountain where I always get my drinking water from, for free :) When I am in Vegas and see that people pay so much for a tiny bottle of water, it's just ridiculous. Then I see that some casinos are offering this Fiji water to its patrons, which in my opinion is ecological madness. To fly the water into town from hundreds or thousands of miles away, isn't it totally crazy?
I really love to live in Vegas myself. For some reason I have been returning to Vegas every six months for the past 10 years. I love this city and know it probably just as well as my hometown, Zurich. And then again, it worries me that it's in the middle of nowhere and water is so important to Vegas. Once the Lake Mead water level has reached a level at which even a blind dog realizes that it's going to late, I think I don't want to be there when they have to admit that Vegas is definetely running out of the liquid gold.....
Perhaps some wise politicians understand that Vegas should not grow any further and that golf courses and fancy water springs in front of the mega casinos do no longer belong into the desert. This would already save some water you need for your daily life, right?

Greetings from Switzerland

Boris
By uddeboda

8/24/08 at 11:09 a.m.

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Hi Boris,
I also live in another country where the climate is very comfortable, all the 4 seasons every year, even if they are changing, but I cant complain.
Regards from Sweden
By mikeg

8/24/08 at 9:38 p.m.

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Oh come on now, Vegas may be hot and dry but at least we don't have the bitter dark cold winters that you Swiss and Swedes have, with 5 months of snow and ice. Be fair.

And btw the water recycling system in Vegas for returning used and treated water to Lake Mead is actually quite complex and advanced - much of the water that is used from Lake Mead is cleaned at a large facility and then returned to the lake. So we don't "waste" as much water as it would appear.
By uddeboda

8/24/08 at 11:29 p.m.

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mikeg,

If only we could get those winters you talk of, if only.
Here in the south of Sweden, our normal winters from the 80s normally started at the end of October until the end of March, now all we get is a few days of - temps, and last year only 3 days when we had snow on the ground, and strawberries flowering in December, the climate has changed to the worse.
By BorisR

8/25/08 at 2:28 a.m.

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No doubt that your water recycling system is quite advanced. And no doubt that your temperatures, especially between Oct and May, are quite pleasant. I already emphasized how much I would like to live and work in Las Vegas. The casino I work for in Switzerland is a casino, but not to be compared to Vegas standards, and therefore not worth mentioning.

However, when I take a shower in a Vegas hotel, I just feel the different between "your water" and "our water" over here in Switzerland. We have soft water of high quality, which is a big benefit of living in the land of cows and Rolex watches :)

It is correct, weather may suck sometimes over here. In the summer, although not much higher than the low 90s at its peak, it's the humidity that drives you crazy. 70-85 per cent humidity and you could use a shower room every 2 hours or so ....

Now that summer is going to come to an end, temperatures have reached a very pleasant level and there's no need for airconditioning. On my good days I even like it here....if not there would be this big travelling distance until I make it to my dream city, Las Vegas :(