Las Vegas is melting through its record sixth consecutive day of highs above 115 degrees on Thursday, a prolonged stretch of heat that appears to be nearing its end.
Reid International Airport’s official thermometer reached 115 at 12:51 p.m., making it the record sixth day with a reading of 115 or higher.
The Thursday morning low was 93, a degree lower than the Wednesday low of 94. The mercury reached 100 at 7:35 a.m. The National Weather Service was predicting a high of 118.
“The extra cloud cover today will play a role,” meteorologist Morgan Stessman said.
At 11 a.m., the airport reading was 110 and fluctuating around that number.
“It’s still pretty warm through Friday,” meteorologist Brian Planz said Wednesday. “We can add to the five-day streak for a day or two.”
The record high for July 11 is 116, set in 1959.
Record streaks
Before the current heat spell, four days had been the record for consecutive days with highs of 115 or more. It was first set nearly 20 years ago, July 16-19, 2005, according to the weather service.
Thursday also marked the ninth straight day of highs reaching 110 or higher. Since July 3, daily high temperatures have reached 113 or hotter.
A streak of 10 days has only happened twice in recorded Las Vegas weather history (since 1937) — June 17-26, 1962, and last year, July 14-23.
Cooling stations across the region will remain open through 11 p.m. Friday.
The weather service’s excessive heat warning in place for more than a week is set to expire at 11 p.m. Friday.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com.