Sunny, but cooler for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 | 5:13 a.m.

Grab some sunglasses and a jacket on your way out today.

Skies will be mostly sunny and temperatures will run a few degrees cooler than normal, with highs reaching only the mid 60s in the Las Vegas Valley, according to the National Weather Service.

This morning's gusty winds are expected to decrease by the afternoon, but some gusts will persist down the Colorado River Valley, the weather service said.

An area of high pressure will set up across the area today, bringing warmer weather and lighter winds Wednesday, the weather service said.

An area of low pressure will brush by northern Nevada Thursday. Then high pressure will return to the region Friday and Saturday, sending local temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal Thursday through Saturday — into the upper 70s, forecasters said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 48 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 45 degrees. The record low was 26 degrees, set in 1942.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 47 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 45 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 45 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 54 degrees by 9 a.m., to 62 degrees by noon and reach a high of 66 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 68 degrees and the record high was 87 degrees, set in 1989.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 61 degrees by 6 p.m., to 57 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 54 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Wednesday's morning low will be 48 degrees and Wednesday's high will climb to 72 degrees, they said.