Strong winds buffeted the Las Vegas Valley and the mountains around it early Tuesday with gusts of more than 60 mph knocking down some power lines and sending plastic garbage cans and recycle bins sailing like paper cups in a wind tunnel.

One peak gust was clocked at 67 mph at 6:30 a.m. near Hayford Peak on the Desert National Wildlife Refuge at the north end of the valley. Another gust at 1:30 a.m. in Red Rock Canyon was recorded at 62 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Stan Czyzyk said.

A wind advisory was in effect from 9 p.m. Monday until noon Tuesday.

"Three miles northwest of downtown, a 32-foot ham radio antenna snapped at its base and small tree limbs snapped at 1:15 a.m. The gust was estimated at 60 miles per hour," he said.

The winds were out of the southwest Tuesday but were expected to weaken and shift to the west today.

The forecast calls for wind speeds of 15 mph to 25 mph in the early morning mellowing out to 10 mph to 15 mph during the day.

"We're in a downward trend," Czyzyk said Tuesday afternoon while gusty winds were still blowing.

On Mount Charleston, winds reached 57 mph at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday and continued to blow, knocking a power pole down at the Angel Peak substation between Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon about 2:15 a.m. Power in that area was out for nearly eight hours, Nevada Power Co. spokesman Gabriel Romero said.

State Division of Forestry Capt. Tim Woolever said temperatures in Kyle Canyon dipped to 26 degrees Tuesday afternoon with a high for the day of 28. About 2 1/2 inches of snow had accumulated by 2 p.m. after flurries began at 4 a.m.

"It's been snowing off and on, but it's windy and blowing everywhere," Woolever said.

Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said electrical wires also went down about 4 a.m. in Calico Basin near Red Rock Canyon and at 7 a.m. at Craig Road and Interstate 15. He said no fires were caused by the downed wires.

Temperatures are expected to reach into the mid-50s this afternoon and then dip into the mid-30s tonight.

"I wouldn't be surprised if certain parts of the valley will get below freezing," Czyzyk said referring to the outskirts of Henderson and higher elevations on the west and northwest sides of the valley.

Isolated rain and snow showers were expected Tuesday night and today with snow dusting some elevations down to 3,000 feet.