Las Vegas briefly reaches first 80-degree day, nearly a month behind norm
Las Vegas recorded its first official 80-degree reading at 3:56 p.m. Wednesday.
The temperature has to stay at a specified number for three minutes to be official, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Gorelow.
“It did it and we’re look at 85 for tomorrow and a bit warmer on Friday,” Gorelow said.
That temperature failed to arrive in the first week of April when a windy cold front stopped the mercury’s rise at 79 last week.
Last year the first 80 came on April 9 with a 90-degree day on the 10th. This week may play out similar.
#LasVegas will see their 1st 80 degree day of 2024 this week with a 100% chance of reaching 80F by Thursday. The warm up then continues with a low chance of hitting 90F Friday! Temps cool off this weekend, though its uncertain how quickly they will drop- Stay Tuned! #vegasweather pic.twitter.com/zb9n5wlkhv
— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) April 9, 2024
The first 90-degree reading is a 17 percent possibility on Friday, Gorelow said.
The norm for reaching 80 is March 14 with the earliest being Feb. 1, 2003, and the latest being April 23, 1941.
“We are seeing a lot of similarities to last year,” Gorelow said.
The weather service officially called for a high near 82 on Wednesday with west-northwest winds of 5-10 mph becoming northeast.
The Thursday high is expected to be around 85 with light winds.
Friday will be breezy with a high near 87 and breezy conditions. A high of 90 is an outside chance.
Then comes the cooler weekend, Gorelow noted.
Saturday temperatures will drop 8 or 9 degrees to the upper 70s and Sunday will be around 70, Gorelow said. The chance of any meaningful rain is minimal on Saturday.
Cool temperatures will stay through next week, Gorelow said with the valley “struggling to get to 80.” The norm this time of year is 77.
If the weather continues to track last year, July might be a good month to go north. That month in 2023 had the 10 hottest days in Las Vegas weather history, the weather service said.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.
