my $i = 0;
foreach my $href ( @array ) 
{
    last if date_larger_than( $href->{ 'date' }, $today );
    $i++
}
# Mark it, if you want, assuming found...
if ( $i < scalar @array ) { #
   $array[$i]->{ 'isnext' } = 1;
}

##</code><code>##

my ($y, $m, $d) = ( $date =~ /(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})/ );
$date_num = $y*10000 + $m*100 + $d;