Hot holiday ahead for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, May 31, 2010 | 6:13 a.m.

Ice down the drinks and head for the pool — Memorial Day will be the hottest day of the year so far in Las Vegas, according to the National Weather Service.

Skies will be mostly sunny and the official high for today is expected to reach 95 degrees, which would be the first time this year the temperature has hit that threshold, the weather service said.

Breezy southwest winds will develop this afternoon, with wind gusts as high as 20 mph, forecasters said.

A minor weather disturbance will move across the area on Tuesday, lowering temperatures about 5 degrees and resulting in more cloud cover, forecasters said.

Then high pressure dominates the remainder of the week, causing afternoon temperatures to rise into the upper 90s, forecasters said. Temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees for the first time this year on Friday.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 68 degrees, which is the normal low for today's date. The record low was 47 degrees, set in 1937.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 64 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 61 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 65 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 76 degrees by 9 a.m., to 90 degrees by noon and reach a high of 95 degrees by 5 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 93 degrees and the record high was 104 degrees, set in 2002, 1997 and 1977.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 93 degrees by 6 p.m., to 89 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 82 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 74 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 91 degrees, they said.