Hot weather makes a return — excessive heat warning issued for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 | 5:24 a.m.

The first day of public school in the Las Vegas Valley is going to be a scorcher — the National Weather Service has issued another excessive heat warning for the region.

Students will probably have a hot bus ride home, with afternoon highs ranging from 101 degrees on the west side of the valley to around 111 on the east side, the weather service said. The record high at McCarran International Airport is 110 degrees for today's date.

The heat warning will remain in effect from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in areas below 4,000 feet elevation, forecasters said.

Highs in the region are expected to be 113 to 114 at Lake Mead and the Laughlin-Bullhead City area, 118 to 120 in Death Valley, 109 to 110 in Barstow and Twentynine Palms, around 115 in Lake Havasu City and around 101 in Kingman. Overnight lows will be between 80 and 90 degrees in most of those areas.

The weather service recommends wearing light-weight and loose-fitting clothing when possible and drinking plenty of water.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 86 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 77 degrees. The record low was 57 degrees, set in 1947.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 83 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 86 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 85 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures at McCarran were to rise today to 95 degrees by 9 a.m., to 106 degrees by noon and reach a high of 110 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 100 degrees and the record high was 110 degrees, set in 1948 and 1944.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 109 degrees by 6 p.m., to 100 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 93 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 83 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 109 degrees, they said.