Las Vegas to hit mid 90s today

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, June 14, 2010 | 5:16 a.m.

After a relatively cool weekend, warmer weather returns to the last Vegas area today, with temperatures hitting the mid 90s, according to the National Weather Service.

Higher temperatures are in store for Tuesday, with the afternoon temperature reaching 100 degrees, the weather service said.

The warmer weather is being caused by high pressure building over the area today, forecasters said. It will give way to a low pressure system that will drop down through the Pacific northwest and into northern Nevada Tuesday and Wednesday, they said.

Southwest breezes will develop Tuesday, followed by stronger southwest to west winds across much of the region Wednesday, forecasters said.

A broad trough of low pressure will then remain over the west into the weekend, with persistent afternoon breezes and temperatures slightly below normal in the mid to upper 90s, they said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 73 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 72 degrees. The record low was 55 degrees, set in 1943.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 70 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 72 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 65 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 80 degrees by 9 a.m., to 89 degrees by noon and reach a high of 94 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 99 degrees and the record high was 115 degrees, set in 1940.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 92 degrees by 6 p.m., to 86 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 61 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 74 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 100 degrees, they said.