Cooler, cloudy and a chance for showers in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Sunday, May 23, 2010 | 6:34 a.m.

Put away your swimwear and keep an umbrella handy today.

Afternoon temperatures will reach only the mid 60s, winds will be gusty and there's a chance for showers and thunderstorms today in the Las Vegas area, according to the National Weather Service.

A strong low pressure system will move over southern Nevada today, resulting in gusty winds over much of the area while showers and isolated thunderstorms will be seen mainly over the mountains in the afternoon, the weather service said.

High temperatures are expected to about 25 degrees below normal today with snow levels lowering to near 5,000 feet, forecasters said.

After the storm moves northeast tonight, Las Vegas will have drier and warmer weather Monday, with afternoon highs reaching into the low 70s, forecasters said. Afternoon temperatures for the rest of the week will be in the low to mid 80s, 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 65 degrees. The record low was 48 degrees, set in 1980.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 54 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 55 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 51 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 59 degrees by 9 a.m., to 63 degrees by noon and reach a high of 65 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 90 degrees and the record high was 107 degrees, set in 2000.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 64 degrees by 6 p.m., to 60 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 57 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Monday's morning low will be 53 degrees and Monday's high will climb to 72 degrees, they said.