Las Vegas warming up to high 60s

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 | 7:10 a.m.

Sunny skies and temperatures climbing into the upper 60s are in store for the Las Vegas Valley this week, including Thanksgiving.

The National Weather Service says the region is under a dry northwest flow that will bring some high clouds drifting overhead today, along with locally gusty north winds mainly down the Colorado River Valley on Monday.

This morning, winds were calm and will become light and variable later in the day.

The temperature was starting off at 44 degrees at 5:56 a.m. at McCarran International Airport, 42 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport and 39 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport. The normal low for today's date is 42 degrees and the record low was 24 degrees, set in 1941.

Temperatures in the valley were to climb to 53 degrees by 9 a.m., 62 degrees by noon and top out at 68 degrees at 3 p.m. today, forecasters said. That's five degrees higher than the normal high for today's date of 63 degrees. The record for today's date is 77 degrees, set in 1976.

The temperatures will fall to 59 degrees by 7 p.m., to 54 degrees by 10 p.m. and to 52 by midnight, forecasters said.

Monday's morning low will be 48 degrees and Monday's high will reach 68 degrees by about 3 p.m., the weather service said.

For the rest of the week, temperatures will range from lows in the mid 40s to highs in the upper 60s.

Forecasters say Thanksgiving will be sunny, with the low around 46 and the high reaching 68. Black Friday, the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season, will cooperate with retailers and shoppers — temperatures will climb to a high of 70 degrees that day, forecasters said.