Las Vegas to warm up for Memorial Day

By Dave Toplikar

Saturday, May 29, 2010 | 6:22 a.m.

Say goodbye to the cool spring temperatures Las Vegas has been having.

A warm-up is coming that will finally bring the mid 90s to Las Vegas by Memorial Day and the 100s next weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Today's afternoon temperatures will warm up into the mid 80s, with sunny skies and north to northeast winds, gusting up to 18 mph, the weather service said.

Then mostly clear skies and a warming trend can be expected through the holiday weekend as a dry westerly flow develops, the weather service said. A ridge of high pressure will build over the area next week, leading to above-normal temperatures and continued dry conditions, forecasters said.

Las Vegas should finally reach the 95-degree threshold on Memorial Day, forecasters said. So far this year, the highest temperature at McCarran International Airport, which is the official climate station for Las Vegas, has been 94 degrees.

Normally, McCarran reaches or exceeds 95 degrees by May 8, the weather service said. This year is now the third latest period in a year that Las Vegas has gone since records started in 1937 without reaching the 95 degree mark, forecasters said. In 1995, the 95-degree mark was reached on May 31 and in 1998, it was finally reached on June 1, they said.

Forecasters say that temperatures will continue to warm up next week and that Las Vegas will get its first 100-degree day of the year on Friday. Temperatures could sizzle as high as 107 next Saturday and 109 next Sunday, they said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 63 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 67 degrees and the record low was 46 degrees, set in 1953.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 62 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 61 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 59 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 71 degrees by 9 a.m., to 81 degrees by noon and reach a high of 84 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 93 degrees and the record high was 108 degrees, set in 1984 and 1939.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 82 degrees by 6 p.m., to 78 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 73 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Sunday's morning low will be 67 degrees and Sunday's high will climb to 91 degrees, they said.