Sub-freezing chill hits Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 | 6:30 a.m.

Grab a coat, hat, gloves and sunglasses and you'll be ready to deal with some wintery weather today in Las Vegas.

Skies will be sunny, but temperatures won't climb out of the upper 40s this afternoon in the Las Vegas Valley, says the National Weather Service.

The thermometer readings were below the freezing mark of 32 degrees around the valley this morning.

At 5:56 a.m. at McCarran International Airport, the temperature had climbed to 31 degrees, after hitting a low of 30 at 4:56 a.m. The normal low at McCarran for today's date is 37 degrees. The record low was 16, set in 1956.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 31 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 26 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport and 30 degrees at Nellis Air Force.

Temperatures for the valley were to climb to 35 degrees by 9 a.m., to 45 degrees by noon and top out at 47 by 2 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 58 degrees and the record high is 71 degrees, set in 1975 and 1950.

If you're heading out tonight, you'll find partly cloudy skies and the temperature dropping to 42 degrees at 6 p.m., to 38 degrees at 9 p.m. and to 37 degrees at midnight, the weather service said.

Thursday will be mostly cloudy, with temperatures starting out at 31 degrees around 6 a.m. and climbing to 49 degrees around 2 p.m., forecasters said.

Friday will be mostly cloudy with a low of 33 degrees and a high near 49 degrees, they said.

The second major storm system of the week will move into the valley Friday afternoon and evening, with the most likely time for rain Saturday afternoon through early Sunday morning, forecasters said.

The storm system is expected to move out Sunday, they said.