Sunny skies, high near 60, for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 | 5:04 a.m.

Sunny skies, with afternoon highs climbing to nearly 60 degrees, are on the way to Las Vegas today, according to the National Weather Service.

A quiet weather pattern will set up as high pressure builds in over the region, the weather service said. Temperatures are expected to return to normal levels, with highs in the low 60s, by the weekend, forecasters said.

Breezy conditions will remain down the Colorado River through Thursday with light winds elsewhere across the area, forecasters said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 43 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 40 degrees. The record low was 19 degrees, set in 1946.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 43 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 45 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 40 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 43 degrees by 9 a.m., to 54 degrees by noon and reach a high of 60 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 62 degrees and the record high was 77 degrees, set in 1951.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 53 degrees by 6 p.m., to 48 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 43 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 37 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 61 degrees, they said.