100-plus degree temperatures expected through holiday weekend in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011 | 5:39 a.m.

Even though September has arrived, temperatures are still going to climb well past the 100-degree mark through the middle of next week in Las Vegas, according to the National Weather Service.

Skies are expected to be sunny today in the Las Vegas Valley, with highs ranging from 97 degrees on the west side of the valley to around 108 on the east side, the weather service said.

A dry southwest flow will be over the area today as a low pressure system moves from the Pacific northwest into the northern Rockies, forecasters said.

High pressure then rebuilds over the Southwest for the weekend, maintaining above-normal temperatures and bringing a slight chance of thunderstorms back into northwest Arizona and the eastern Mohave Desert Sunday through early next week, they said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 82 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 76 degrees. The record low was 57 degrees, set in 1942 and 1941.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 73 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 72 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 78 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures at McCarran were to rise today to 88 degrees by 9 a.m., to 99 degrees by noon and reach a high of 104 degrees by 2 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 99 degrees and the record high was 113 degrees, set in 1950.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 103 degrees by 6 p.m., to 95 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 88 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Friday's morning low will be 79 degrees and Friday's high will climb to 105 degrees, they said.