Sunny weekend ahead, with highs in the low 70s for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, March 4, 2011 | 6:27 a.m.

Lots of sunshine, with afternoon temperatures climbing into the low 70s are in the forecast today through Sunday for the Las Vegas Valley.

A ridge of high pressure over the area will bring dry and mild conditions through Saturday, along with variable high cloudiness, according to the National Weather Service.

A westerly flow ahead of an approaching low pressure system will result in an increase in cloud cover and winds on Sunday, while temperatures remain normal, the weather service said.

Windy and cooler conditions can be expected Monday, along with a chance of rain and snow as the low pressure system moves into Nevada, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 54 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 45 degrees. The record low was 25 degrees, set in 1966.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 53 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 51 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 50 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 58 degrees by 9 a.m., to 69 degrees by noon and reach a high of 72 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 67 degrees and the record high was 84 degrees, set in 1972.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 65 degrees by 6 p.m., to 60 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 54 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

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