Temperatures to hit mid 70s in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | 6:15 a.m.

Las Vegas will get another dose today of sunny, but relatively cool temperatures for this time of year, with highs reaching only the mid 70s, according to the National Weather Service.

A northwest flow with limited moisture will remain over the southern Great Basin through Friday as an area of low pressure gradually moves east, the weather service said. Temperatures will rise into the upper 70s on Thursday, then get closer to the normal mid 80s on Friday, forecasters said.

Winds will decrease and temperatures will get warmer as the low pressure system gives way to high pressure building on Saturday and Sunday, forecasters said. Aternoon temperatures will climb into the upper 80s on Saturday and then into the 90s Sunday through Tuesday, they said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 61 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 62 and the record low was 45 degrees, set in 1963.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 57 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 54 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 54 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 63 degrees by 9 a.m., to 70 degrees by noon and reach a high of 75 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 86 degrees and the record high was 104 degrees, set in 1996.

Temperatures are expected to be 75 degrees at 6 p.m., then drop to 69 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 65 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 60 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 78 degrees, they said.