FXUS65 KVEF 210521 AFDVEF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 1021 PM PDT Fri Mar 20 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... * Heat headlines remain in effect as an unprecedented March heatwave continues into next week. && .DISCUSSION...through Thursday. Expect the heat to peak today as strong high pressure remains over the area. A weak shortwave will move into the Pacific NW Saturday lowering our 500mb heights and bringing our 850mb temps down 1-3 deg C. We will also start to see increasing high clouds Saturday afternoon which will also help to limit afternoon temperatures. Along with the slightly cooler temperatures, we will see increasing southwest winds Saturday afternoon with most areas across San Bernardino, Clark, Mohave, and Lincoln counties seeing wind gusts approaching 20 mph. Regardless, temperatures are going to remain well above normal for mid/late March as this historic heatwave continues. Temperatures are still expected to reach the mid-90s in Las Vegas through Sunday. Going into next week the ridge is expected to restrengthen with temperatures once again trending upwards. Here in Vegas, there is at least a 75% chance of reaching 90 degrees each day through Thursday. Should this materialize, it would put us at 9 days of 90+ degrees this March. For reference, we had just 1 March day of 90+ from 1937 (when records began) to 2003, and 12 March days of 90+ from 2004 to 2025. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...For the 06Z Forecast Package...Light, mainly diurnal winds less than 8KT will persist through the overnight hours. Southwest winds are expected to increase after 18Z Saturday with occasional afternoon gusts between 15-18KT. Clear skies overnight with increasing high level clouds Saturday, becoming BKN by afternoon. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...For the 06Z Forecast Package...Winds will remain below 10KT at all TAF sites overnight. Southwest winds are expected to increase after late Saturday morning/early Saturday afternoon, especially for the Las Vegas Valley TAF sites, with stronger winds gusting to 25KT at KDAG. All other TAF sites will see winds around 10KT or less. Clear skies overnight with increasing high level clouds Saturday, becoming BKN by afternoon. && .CLIMATE...Numerous climate locations have a forecast high temperature and/or forecast warm low temperature within 3 degrees of the daily record. The table below shows the daily record maximum temperature and the year the record was last set. An asterisk (*) denotes which records are in jeopardy (within 3 degrees of the forecast). MAX FRI, MAR 20 SAT, MAR 21 SUN, MAR 22 MON, MAR 23 Record(Yr) Record(Yr) Record (Yr) Record (Yr) Las Vegas 90(2004)* 92(2004)* 91(2004)* 89(2004)* Bishop 84(2004)* 84(2004)* 83(2004)* 82(2004)* Needles 97(2004)* 98(2004)* 97(2004)* 94(1990)* Daggett 94(1997)* 92(2004)* 92(2004)* 89(1971)* Kingman 89(2004)* 89(2004)* 87(2004)* 85(1956)* Desert Rock 86(2004)* 87(2004)* 87(2004)* 83(1990)* Death Valley 97(2004)* 101(2004)* 102(2004)* 99(2004)* The table below shows the daily record warm minimum temperature and the year the record was last set. An asterisk (*) denotes which records are in jeopardy (within 3 degrees of the forecast). WARM MIN FRI, MAR 20 SAT, MAR 21 SUN, MAR 22 MON, MAR 23 Record(Yr) Record(Yr) Record (Yr) Record (Yr) Las Vegas 68(2017)* 69(2017)* 62(2015)* 71(2004)* Bishop 46(2013)* 47(1978)* 46(1963)* 45(2012)* Needles 69(2017) 70(2017) 68(2004)* 71(2004) Daggett 60(2017)* 59(1978)* 62(2015)* 62(2004)* Kingman 54(1936)*54(1978)* 55(2004)* 58(2004)* Desert Rock 59(2017)* 58(2017)* 54(2018)* 55(2012)* Death Valley 73(2017)* 73(2017)* 72(2022)* 72(1967)* && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && $$ DISCUSSION/CLIMATE...Gorelow AVIATION...Stessman For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter