Las Vegas Valley heating up Friday to 112

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Published Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 6:06 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 7:04 p.m.

Las Vegas got hot today, but not quite as hot as weather forecasters had expected.

Although the National Weather Service forecast called for temperatures to zoom up to 111 degrees, the official high temperature at McCarran International Airport was just shy of that, at 110 degrees, at 2:34 p.m.

Forecasters are still expecting even hotter weather this week in the Las Vegas Valley, with Thursday's afternoon temperatures to hit 111 degrees and Friday's to peak at 112, which is considered to be a potentially dangerous level.

For that reason, the weather service has issued an excessive heat watch for Friday afternoon and Friday evening in local areas below 4,000 feet in elevation. An excessive heat watch means that a prolonged period of high heat will create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible. The weather service recommends drinking plenty of water, staying in an air-conditioned room, staying out of the sun and checking up on relatives and neighbors during the heat watch.

Forecasted highs for Friday include 116 to 118 along the Colorado River as well as in Mesquite and Overton, 105 in Kingman and 109 to 111 in Barstow and Twentynine Palms. But the hottest place to be Friday will be in Death Valley, where it will be between 122 to 124 degrees.

Along with the heat, there's also a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms after 11 a.m. Friday, forecasters said.

An area just east of Henderson got some isolated showers late this afternoon. Weather service radar showed some rain falling about 5:15 to 5:30 p.m. in that area.

Temperatures had dropped off to 106 degrees by 6 p.m. at McCarran. Today's normal high is 104 degrees and the record for this date is 114, set in 1949.

Tonight's temperatures will drop to a low of around 86 degrees.