Highs to climb near 80 in Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Saturday, March 12, 2011 | 5:47 a.m.

Break out the shorts and sandals — mostly sunny skies and temperatures climbing to nearly 80 degrees are on the way to the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.

Friday's high reached 80 degrees at McCarran International Airport for the first time this year and highs are expected to hit 78 today, 78 Sunday and 77 Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

A westerly flow is sending a series of weak storms across northern California and northern Nevada through the middle of the upcoming week, the weather service said.

That weather pattern will produce gusty winds in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and high clouds and above-normal temperatures to the entire region, forecasters said.

There is also a chance that a larger storm could bring gusty winds and a chance of rain late in the week into the next weekend, they said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 57 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 46. The record low was 27 degrees, set in 1940.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 52 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 54 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 57 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 64 degrees by 9 a.m., to 73 degrees by noon and reach a high of 78 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 68 degrees and the record high was 86 degrees, set in 1989.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 72 degrees by 6 p.m., to 65 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 60 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Sunday's morning low will be 55 degrees and Sunday's high will climb to 78 degrees, they said.