Wind advisory issued for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011 | 5:17 a.m.

Bundle up. A very cold air mass is moving into the Las Vegas Valley today, bringing strong gusty winds and keeping high temperatures today in the upper 40s to low 50s.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory from 1 p.m. to midnight for much of the region, including the Las Vegas Valley, northeast Clark County, Sheep Range, the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon, Mesquite, Overton, Moapa and Mount Charleston.

North winds with sustained speeds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts between 40 and 50 mph will be common in most of the area, with gusts over 60 mph in the mountains, the weather service said.

Crosswinds are expected to be strong enough to make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles, the weather service said.

The weather service has issued a high wind warning from 1 p.m. today to 6 p.m. Wednesday for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including Laughlin and Bullhead City.

North winds gusting to 60 mph are expected down the Colorado River Valley, especially in the narrow channels from Hoover Dam to Laughlin and Bullhead City, they said. Sustained speeds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts between 40 and 50 mph, will be common across the rest of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, they said.

The high winds will create dangerous boating conditions on area lakes and might create very choppy waters and generate large waves that could capsize or swamp small boats, the weather service said.

Forecasters urge operators of small craft to postpone their outings until the winds subside. Those who do venture out should avoid the open water and stay close to shore or in protected coves and inlets, they said.

Those who live within the river valley should secure their trash cans and other loose or lightweight outdoor objects, they said.

The weather service said the cold air mass will drop out of Canada and into the southern Great Basin and Four Corners region today through Wednesday.

Besides the gusty north winds, the cold air mass will bring subfreezing temperatures to the lower deserts tonight through Wednesday night, forecasters said.

High pressure will rebuild late in the week with a gradual warming trend, forecasters said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 40 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 39 degrees. The record low was 17 degrees, set in 1937.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 46 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 37 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 37 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures were to rise today to around 49 degrees on the west side of the valley and to around 55 on the east side, forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 60 degrees and the record high was 81 degrees, set in 2003.

Temperatures are expected to drop overnight to around 24 degrees on the west side of the valley to around 30 degrees on the east side, forecasters said.

Wednesday's highs will climb to 43 on the west side of the valley to around 47 on the east side degrees, they said.