Cold and blustery today for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 | 5:18 a.m.

Find a coat and a warm drink. A cold Groundhog Day is ahead for the Las Vegas Valley, with gusty winds, morning temperatures below the freezing mark and afternoon temperatures climbing into only the low 40s.

A low pressure system over eastern Arizona will continue to bring very cold air and gusty winds to the region today, with the strongest winds over the Colorado River Valley, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service has issued a wind advisory for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, including Bullhead City, Mohave Valley, Hoover Dam and Laughlin until 6 p.m. today.

Sustained speeds of 20 to 30 mph, with gusts between 40 and 50 mph will be common, especially south of Hoover Dam, forecasters said.

The strong winds in excess of 30 mph will create dangerous boating conditions on area lakes and may create very choppy waters and generate large waves, which could capsize or swamp small craft, they said. Crosswinds are expected that could make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles, they said.

Winds will decrease on Thursday, the weather service said.

However, below freezing temperatures are still expected Thursday morning, they said.

Then a warming trend will take place into the weekend as high pressure builds off the West Coast, they said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 28 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 39 degrees. The record low was 22 degrees, set in 1951, 1950 and 1946.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 28 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 28 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 24 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 34 degrees by 9 a.m., to 39 degrees by noon and reach a high of 42 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 60 degrees and the record high was 77 degrees, set in 1995 and 1951.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 37 degrees by 6 p.m., to 32 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 30 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 28 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 50 degrees, they said.