Las Vegas to hit upper 80s today

By Dave Toplikar

Saturday, May 8, 2010 | 6:22 a.m.

Pull out the sunscreen and ice down the lemonade -- Las Vegas will have mostly clear skies and temperatures soaring into the upper 80s today, according to the National Weather Service.

As a weak Pacific storm moves across northern Nevada, dry southwest winds will increase today across the Mojave Desert, gusting from 25 to 35 mph, the weather service said.

A series of storm systems will bring another round of strong winds to the region Sunday into Monday, forecasters said. The strongest winds will move in Sunday afternoon, bringing gusts of 45 to 55 mph at times, they said.

A red flag warning is in effect Sunday afternoon and evening for elevations below 3,000 feet in San Bernardino County, the Colorado River Valley and Mohave County, forecasters said. The above-normal winter rains have lead to an abundance of seasonal grasses. Those grasses, which have now cured, could carry wildfires with strong winds and low relative humidity, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 64 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 60 degrees. The record low was 42 degrees, set in 1964.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 58 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 57 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 59 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 70 degrees by 9 a.m., to 79 degrees by noon and reach a high of 88 degrees by 5 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 85 degrees and the record high was 102 degrees, set in 1989.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 79 degrees by 6 p.m., to 72 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 66 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Sunday's morning low will be 65 degrees and Sunday's high will climb to 84 degrees, they said.