Thanksgiving week to be ‘very warm’ in Las Vegas Valley

Thanksgiving week in the Las Vegas Valley will be “very warm for this time of year” — with highs near 80 on Thanksgiving Day — because of a high-pressure system, the National Weather Service said.

The valley’s average high temperature is about 65 degrees this time of year. Temperatures through the week are forecast to break and tie record highs, the weather service said.

Cloud cover is expected to fade Wednesday when the high is forecast to hit 80 degrees, which would surpass the 77-degree record high set in 1976.

Thanksgiving Day is expected to see a high of 79, which would break the 76-degree high set for Nov. 23 in 1995, the weather service said. Thursday’s predicted-record temperatures will be followed by a high of 78 on Friday.

Meteorologist Reid Wolcott said the high-pressure system was more typical for summertime than late November. Temperatures would possibly reach the 100s if the sun were out for longer, as it is during the summer months, rather than fall’s shorter daylight hours.

The holiday weekend will end with respective forecast highs of 78 and 76 degrees Saturday and Sunday, the weather service said. Saturday is also forecast to exceed the record temperature of 76 degrees for Nov. 25, set in 1970.

Overnight lows throughout the period will be in the mid- to low 50s, the weather service said.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this story.