A woman avoids the heat beneath her purse while walking along the Las Vegas Strip during the first 100-degree day this season on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.
Published Monday, June 20, 2016 | 2 a.m.
Updated Monday, June 20, 2016 | 4:05 p.m.
Today is the first official day of summer, and it's starting out slightly hotter than last year, prompting an excessive heat warning.
As of 3:30 p.m., the high temperature had hit 114 degrees, beating last year’s record high of 113, according to the National Weather Service. And the temperatures could still rise 1 or 2 degrees by 5 p.m., Meteorologist Nathan Foster said. Today is forecasted to be one of the hottest days of the week, Foster said.
Sunday's high temperature was 110 degrees, 10 degrees above normal, he said. Temperatures should be about 10-15 degrees higher than normal for most of the week.
Tuesday is forecasted to hit 113 degrees, which could beat the 1954 record of 111 degrees, Foster said. Wednesday’s high is expected to reach 110 degrees.
The excessive heat warning is effective through 9 p.m. Wednesday.
Temperatures will drop somewhat by the end of the week, ranging from 107 to 109 Thursday through Sunday, Foster said.
He said the hot weather isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and the valley is likely to have similar temperatures next week.
“It’s going to stay hot for certain,” he said. “I wouldn’t expect anything under 105 degrees for a while.”
On the brighter side, he said, at least it won’t be as hot as Death Valley, which reached 123 degrees today.
The hottest recorded temperature in the valley is 117 degrees, which was set July 24, 1942, Meteorologist Barry Pierce said. That record also was hit in July 2005 and June 2013.
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