Dust storm invades Las Vegas; heat wave coming

Light sprinkles and intermittent showers are possible Saturday evening after gusts kicked up dusts in the morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Gusts maxing out at 55 mph whipped dust into the air and caused the weather service to issue a dust storm warning that expired at 11:30 a.m. The storm, as have others in the past couple of days, hit Henderson and eastern parts of the valley.

“It’s not their week,” meteorologist Todd Lericos said.

It appeared the Las Vegas Valley would avoid further thunderstorms Saturday, although sporadic sprinkles and showers were possible, Lericos said.

As cloud cover thickens and winds pick up Saturday, temperatures in the valley will drop. The high on Saturday is forecast at 103.

A slight chance for more showers and thunderstorms after the “big storm” will linger Saturday afternoon through Sunday before slowly tapering out that evening, the weather service said.

Then, meteorologist John Adair warned, a heat wave.

Sunday’s high will reach 106, but temperatures will begin to climb Monday, when the valley is expected to see a 110-degree high, according to the weather service.

An excessive heat warning will go into effect 10 a.m. Tuesday through 9 p.m. Thursday, although the warning could be either extended or shortened “depending on if we get more moisture,” Adair said.

Tuesday’s high is 113, followed by respective highs of 114 and 112 on Wednesday and Thursday.

Because temperatures will increase, the humidity index in the valley will be bumped down to near 12 percent.

“It will be a little sticky but very hot,” Adair 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 report.