Cool, blustery and damp for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, April 8, 2011 | 5:47 a.m.

Grab a jacket and an umbrella on the way out the door — scattered showers, mostly cloudy skies, cool temperatures and gusty southwest winds are in store for Las Vegas today.

Southwest winds of 15 to 25 mph, with wind gusts approaching 40 mph will be possible through 7 a.m. across mainly southern portions of the Las Vegas Valley and the Interstate 15 corridor southwest into San Bernardino County in California, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service said strong crosswinds will be possible at times on area roadways, especially on overpasses and exposed highways.

Forecasters say a strong Pacific storm centered over Central California will slowly swing down through southern California, then move east across the region through Saturday.

Scattered showers will fall across southeast California and southern Nevada today and Saturday, they said. Significant snow accumulations are expected above 4,500 feet in northwest Arizona, they said.

Unseasonably cold temperatures across the area, with his reaching only the upper 50s today and Saturday, will be followed by a quick rebound Sunday as an area of high pressure moves in behind the exiting system, forecasters said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 45 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 52 degrees. The record low was 39 degrees, set in 1983 and 1975.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 45 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 46 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 43 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 51 degrees by 9 a.m., to 55 degrees by noon and reach a high of 58 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 76 degrees and the record high was 98 degrees, set in 1989.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 57 degrees by 6 p.m., to 50 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 45 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Saturday's morning low will be 42 degrees and Saturday's high will climb to 59 degrees, they said.