45-day streak of triple-digit heat snapped

By Kyle B. Hansen

Published Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010 | 6:47 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010 | 11:16 p.m.

For the first time since June 22, Las Vegas had a high temperature Saturday below 100 degrees, but just barely.

Despite a forecast high of 101 degrees, McCarran International Airport only reached 99 degrees just before 3 p.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

Had Las Vegas hit 100, it would have been a tie for the second-longest stretch of days of triple-digit heat.

Through Friday, Las Vegas had 45 days in a row of temperatures of at least 100 degrees, starting on June 23.

The longest stretch was 66 days — June 27 to Aug. 31, 1944. The second longest stretch was 46 days, from June 20 through Aug. 4, 1988.

But this summer’s weather did set another record.

Friday night marked the 29th day of the low temperature staying above 80 degrees, easily beating the old record of 24 days, which ran from June 29 to July 22, 2007.

Tonight’s temperatures are expected to continue the record-setting streak for one more night. Sunday’s low is expected to end the record run.

Tonight’s forecasted low is 81 degrees. Sunday is expected to see a high temperature of 97 degrees and a low of 76 degrees.

But the relatively cool weather won’t last past the weekend.

The forecast calls for a high of 103 degrees on Monday and 104 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Weather Service said.

Saturday also brought thunderstorms to the Spring Mountains west of the Las Vegas Valley. Storms moved into the southern valley late in the evening, while a flash flood warning was posted for the Laughlin area, where more than an inch of rain was reported in some areas, forecasters said.