If you thought the extreme heat was over when September started, you thought wrong.
Just days after seeing below-normal temperatures, Las Vegas is heading back into super-hot territory.
An extreme heat warning has been issued for Southern Nevada, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday and lasting through 8 that evening, the National Weather Service said.
Expect “dangerously hot late-season conditions” in the region, with temperatures ranging from 112 to 116 degrees in Death Valley and the Colorado River Valley to 105-110 for Las Vegas, Moapa Valley and Pahrump Valley.
A high-pressure system that normally sits over the Four Corners region (which brings the chances of monsoon rain to Las Vegas), is shifting west, causing the temperatures to spike, said Jenn Soulat, a meteorologist at the weather service office in Las Vegas.
Thursday’s forecast high is 106, two degrees short of the record set in 1945. Tuesday’s high is 99, Wednesday is 103 and Friday is 104. The average high for early September is in the upper 90s.
On Sunday, Harry Reid International Airport recorded a cool 84 degrees, thanks to cloud cover from the threat of rain. It was 96 on Monday.
Record summer heat
Last month was the warmest August on record, with an average temperature of 96.3 degrees, beating out 2020 (95.6).
On Aug. 1, Las Vegas saw 115, its hottest day of the year. And the month was dominated by several heat warnings, the last one expiring in the month’s final days.
Also, July was the third warmest on record, with an average temperature of 96.6.
Weak monsoon season
The monsoon season, which began in late June and lasts through September, has been almost nonexistent for the valley during a very dry year.
The airport registered a trace of rain Sunday but it has seen no measurable rain so far this month. The average September precipitation for Las Vegas is 0.32 inches. Last year, the valley recorded 0.28 inches.
In August, the airport recorded 0.18 inches of rain, its wettest month since February (0.35). But the August average is 0.32. Reid has registered 0.69 inches of precipitation so far in 2026.
Reid saw no measurable rain in July. On June 23, the airport recorded 0.02 inches of rain, breaking a rainless streak of 124 days. It was the only rainfall of the month.
Contact Mark Davis at mdavis@reviewjournal.com.
