Warm Valentine’s weekend ahead

By Dave Toplikar

Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011 | 6:46 a.m.

A warm Valentine's weekend is ahead for the Las Vegas Valley, with sunny skies and temperatures soaring into the upper 60s and 70s.

High pressure moving over the area will bring mostly clear skies and highs hitting the upper 60s today, the low 70s Sunday and the upper 70s Monday in the valley, according to the National Weather Service.

But a storm system will start moving in Tuesday night, producing an increase in wind and a chance of rain and even snow later in the week, the weather service said.

Light rain and snow showers will start as early as Tuesday night, but increase in intensity and coverage Wednesday through Friday, forecasters said.

Snow levels in the mountains will start out above elevations of 5,000 feet Wednesday, but will drop to around elevations of 3,000 feet Friday, forecasters say.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 42 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 41 degrees. The record low was 22 degrees, set in 1965.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 41 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 34 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 37 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 51 degrees by 9 a.m., to 63 degrees by noon and reach a high of 69 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 63 degrees and the record high was 75 degrees, set in 1954.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 63 degrees by 6 p.m., to 58 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 53 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Sunday's morning low will be 45 degrees and Sunday's high will climb to 72 degrees, they said.