Tourists try to beat heat as temperatures soar

LAS VEGAS - Alan Bigelow leaned back on a makeshift chair at a casino construction site in the triple-digit heat, took a swig of Gatorade and said about the only thing there was to say.

"It's hot."

As temperatures crept up to 116 Thursday - the hottest day ever recorded for July 16 - tourists tried to beat the heat with a dip in the pool while others were just looking for some shade and a water bottle.

"Terrible, terrible," Ron Miller, 40, of Allentown, Pa., said as he sunbathed by the pools outside the Luxor hotel-casino on the Strip. "It was warm back East, but not this bad."

Hundreds of tourists filled the pools and lathered sunscreen on while others lined up to order a cool drink. In comparison, it was only 109 at the real Luxor in Egypt.

Cindy Smith, her husband and three children had been at the pool all morning until she had to take her 16-month-old inside because of the heat.

"She can only take it so long," Smith of Denver said.

The family drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Wednesday and watched the temperature gauge in their car rise from 81 degrees to 115 degrees by the time they arrived.

Temperatures reached 116 Thursday, shattering the old record high of 114, set back on the same day in 1979.

State Climatologist John James predicted the high readings in Las Vegas could reach or top the city's all-time record of 117 degrees either today or Saturday. The state's all-time high reading was 125 degrees in Laughlin set on June 29, 1994. Laughlin reached 122 degrees on Thursday.

In Reno, temperatures reached 101, the first time the heat has registered over 100 this year. A record high of 102 was set back in 1972. With a temperature of 98 degrees, Ely broke its old record of 97 degrees set in 1960.

Temperatures across Northern Nevada are running about 8 degrees above normal, and the searing heat is expected to linger through the weekend, with projected highs today and Saturday of 103.

National Weather Service meteorologist Donald Maker predicted the temperatures in Southern Nevada would dip a little by next week but would still be in the 100s.

"It's hot, but it's not unbearable," said Iramae Varner, 38, who was sunbathing with her husband, Jack, by the Luxor pool. The Chattanooga, Tenn., couple planned to spend the day at the pool and only walk along the Strip at night.

Bigelow, 36, took a break from working on the new Mandalay Bay resort after his girlfriend brought him a jug of Gatorade.

"My guys are used to it," Bigelow said of his construction crew. "We carry at least six gallons of water."

Bigelow's girlfriend, Pamela Dimaggio, 26, had another solution - "Sometimes they call their wives or girlfriends to bring them Gatorade."

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