Highs to hit mid 70s in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Sunday, March 6, 2011 | 6:29 a.m.

Winds will be breezy, but partly sunny skies and afternoon highs reaching into the mid 70s are heading to the Las Vegas Valley today, according to the National Weather Service.

A ridge of high pressure that brought warmer temperatures to the valley will break down today, allowing a storm to move through the Great Basin today and Monday, the weather service said.

The fast-moving storm will produce areas of gusty winds today and more widespread strong winds on Monday, forecasters said.

Some areas might have gusts in excess of 40 mph, making travel difficult for high-profile vehicles, forecasters said. Blowing dust and sand could reduce the visibility under a mile at times, they said.

Chances for rain and snow will be limited to the southern Sierra Nevada and southern Great Basin today and spread to areas of the Mojave Desert north and east of Las Vegas Monday, they said.

A brief period of heavy snow is possible along the cold front over northern Lincoln County Monday, they said.

Dry weather is expected Tuesday along with breezy north winds, they said

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 50 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 45 degrees. The record low was 24 degrees, set in 1939.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 50 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 52 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 49 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 60 degrees by 9 a.m., to 72 degrees by noon and reach a high of 76 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 67 degrees and the record high was 85 degrees, set in 1972.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 70 degrees by 6 p.m., to 65 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 60 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Monday's morning low will be 53 degrees and Monday's high will climb to 65 degrees, they said.