Goodbye haze, hello warm weekend

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, May 11, 2012 | 4:50 a.m.

Much more sunshine — and much less haze — is in the forecast today for the Las Vegas area, says Kevin Janison, KSNV-TV meteorologist.

The dust that swept in from Arizona early Thursday morning, prompting air quality health warnings, had mostly cleared out by Thursday evening, leaving behind clear skies today, Janison said.

A weak cold front may have just enough momentum to bring north winds up to 20 mph down into Clark County this morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The breezes should decrease this afternoon, as temperatures climb into the low 90s, Janison said.

A warm-up is on the way for the weekend. Afternoon temperatures will climb to 95 degrees Saturday and 97 degrees Sunday for Mothers Day, Janison said.

“Then we’ll flirt with 100 degrees as we get to Tuesday and Wednesday,” he said.

This morning’s low at McCarran International Airport was expected to be 72 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 64 degrees. The record low was 47 degrees, set in 1938.

Temperatures at McCarran were to rise today to 79 degrees by 9 a.m., to 88 degrees by noon and reach a high of 92 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 87 degrees and the record high was 103 degrees, set in 1960.

Temperatures are expected to be 92 degrees at 6 p.m., then drop to 84 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 78 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Saturday's morning low will be 72 degrees and Saturday's high will climb to 95 degrees, they said.