Sunny today for Las Vegas, but winter storm moving in for weekend

By Dave Toplikar

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 6:31 a.m.

Temperatures will climb to the low 60s today in the Las Vegas Valley, with mostly sunny skies and gusty winds moving in this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Then colder temperatures, with rain in the valley and snow for the mountains is heading to the area for the weekend, the weather service said.

Strong winds will develop over the ridges of the southern Sierra today as a low pressure system moves down from the Pacific Northwest, forecasters said.

Snow will then develop over the east slopes of the southern Sierra late tonight, they said.

A wind advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. Friday for the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range, with southwest winds expected to be 20 to 30 mph, gusting to 40 to 50 mph, forecasters said.

Rain is expected to start after 10 p.m. Friday in the Las Vegas Valley, forecasters said.

A winter storm watch for snow has been issued for the Sheep Range and the Spring Mountains from late Friday night through Saturday afternoon, the weather service said. Areas affected include the town of Mount Charleston and Red Rock Canyon, they said.

The snow is expected to develop early Saturday morning, with the heaviest snow likely late Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon before tapering off Saturday evening, they said.

Snow levels will start out at elevations between 4,500 and 5,500 feet, before lowering to elevations as low as 3,000 to 3,500 feet by Saturday afternoon, they said.

Snow accumulations of 6 to 16 inches are possible at 6,000 feet, they said. Between 1 and 3 inches of snow could be possible as low as 3,500 to 4,000 feet on Saturday afternoon in the Spring Mountain foothills, which would include the Red Rock Canyon and Spring Mountain Ranch state park areas, forecasters said.

Forecasters said snow could make travel difficult, if not impossible, on area roadways that include Nevada State Route 160 between Las Vegas and Pahrump as well as Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon roads on Mount Charleston, they said. They said this is the potential for slick travel Saturday afternoon on Nevada State Route 159 as well as portions of the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 36 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 43 degrees. The record low was 24 degrees, set in 1955.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 34 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 33 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 31 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 55 degrees by 9 a.m., to 61 degrees by noon and reach a high of 62 degrees by 1 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 65 degrees and the record high was 82 degrees, set in 1989 and 1986.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 58 degrees by 6 p.m., to 50 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 46 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 46 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 62 degrees, they said.