Sunny and warmer today in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, May 3, 2010 | 6:10 a.m.

Sunny skies, calm winds and highs in the low 80s are in the works for Las Vegas today, according to the National Weather Service.

A dry westerly flow will be over the area through much of the upcoming week, leading to lighter winds and a warming trend, the weather service said.

Then an upper-level disturbance moving into the Pacific northwest Wednesday will result in breezy to windy conditions Wednesday afternoon, forecasters said.

A cold front passing through the area Wednesday night will bring cooler temperatures on Thursday, they said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 54 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 59 degrees. The record low was 38 degrees, set in 1942.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 53 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 59 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 49 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 67 degrees by 9 a.m., to 76 degrees by noon and reach a high of 82 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 83 degrees and the record high was 108 degrees, set in 1947.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 81 degrees by 6 p.m., to 75 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 70 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 62 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 87 degrees, they said.