Hot and dry spell continuing in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011 | 6:15 a.m.

Get ready for another scorcher — mostly sunny skies and temperatures running about five degrees above normal are heading for the Las Vegas Valley today.

Most of the area will be under a dry southwest flow through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

However, Mohave County will be under a south to southeast flow, which will bring in some monsoon moisture and a slight chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms, the weather service said.

Temperatures will remain a little above normal through the weekend, forecasters said.

Highs are expected to be around 101 degrees on the west side of the valley and around 109 degrees on the east side, they said.

Winds are expected to be generally light, becoming 10 to 15 mph from the south, with gusts around 25 mph in the afternoon, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 85 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 79 degrees. The record low was 60 degrees, set in 1944.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 79 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 81 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 82 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 92 degrees by 9 a.m., to 99 degrees by noon and reach a high of 107 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 102 degrees and the record high was 111 degrees, set in 1992.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 105 degrees by 6 p.m., to 98 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 92 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Friday's morning low will be 83 degrees and Friday's high will climb to 105 degrees, they said.