Sunny skies expected this afternoon in Las Vegas, highs hitting mid 60s

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 | 4:29 a.m.

Look for some sunshine this afternoon and temperatures climbing into the mid 60s for the Las Vegas Valley today, says Kevin Janison, KSNV-TV meteorologist.

"Clouds continue to stream across the valley sky, but as advertised, rain was lacking," Janison said. "The dynamics just weren’t right to produce any precip in the valley, but the mountains received some light snow."

Some rain gauges in the California desert picked up about .04 of an inch, but that was it, he said.

"Definitely, a lot of bark, but no bite," Janison said.

The system will continue to push through Southern Nevada and we should see clearing today west-to-east, he said.

"We could see clearing as early as midday, with early afternoon a potentially better timetable," he said.

The National Weather Service said this morning’s low at McCarran International Airport was expected to be 45 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 42 degrees. The record low was 25 degrees, set in 1949 and 1948.

Temperatures at McCarran were to rise today to 52 degrees by 9 a.m., to 61 degrees by noon and reach a high of 65 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 61 degrees and the record high was 76 degrees, set in 1996.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 61 degrees by 6 p.m., to 54 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 51 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 46 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 66 degrees, they said.