Wind advisory issued for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, March 7, 2011 | 5:14 a.m.

Gusty winds up to 50 mph and a chance of showers and thunderstorms are sweeping in today to the Las Vegas area, according to the National Weather Service.

A strong cold front is rolling into the region today, bringing snow to Lincoln County, a chance of showers and thunderstorm to parts of southern Nevada and northwest Arizona and strong winds across the Mojave Desert and southern Great Basin, the weather service said.

The weather service has issued a wind advisory for the Las Vegas Valley from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The advisory area includes much of Clark County, Mohave County and southeast San Bernardino County.

Winds will be from the west at 20 to 35 mph, with gusts 40 to 50 mph, forecasters said.

The strong winds will begin this morning, but the greatest threat of widespread strong winds will be in the afternoon, they said. Just before 6 a.m., gusts were 28 mph at McCarran International Airport, 32 mph at Henderson Executive Airport and 40 mph at Red Rock.

Crosswinds are expected to make driving difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles on north-south roads, including Interstate 15, U.S. Highway 95 and U.S. Highway 93, forecasters said.

Strong winds over desert areas could result in briefly lowered visibilities to well under a mile at times in blowing dust or blowing sand, they said.

A winter weather advisory has been issued for Lincoln County through 4 p.m., with the best chance for heavy snow through 10 a.m., forecasters said. Three to 6 inches are expected, they said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 54 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 45 degrees. The record low was 27 degrees, set in 1940.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 54 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 56 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 53 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 59 degrees by 9 a.m., to 65 degrees by noon and reach a high of 67 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 67 degrees and the record high was 84 degrees, set in 1972.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 61 degrees by 6 p.m., to 56 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 51 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 45 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 64 degrees, they said.