Dry, cooler weather expected

Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

After the fireworks in the weather pattern last week, the next five days appear to be filled with normal temperatures with no rain in sight, National Weather Service forecasters said.

Oppressive daytime heat is expected to give way so Las Vegas residents and visitors can feel a hint of fall.

While thunderstorms rumbled around the Las Vegas Valley into Saturday night, the official weather station measured 0.01 inch of rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Kim Runk said. Some areas in the Las Vegas Valley, especially along Interstate 15 toward Nellis Air Force Base, had as much as 0.10, Runk said.

The Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Jean and Sandy Valley, near the Nevada-California border on Saturday afternoon, meteorologist Donald Maker said.

"The moisture has been scoured out of the atmosphere," Maker said late Sunday. "It looks like it's going to be clear."

Although Maker would not say that the seasonal monsoon moisture that crept into the Las Vegas Valley on Thursday and dropped between a quarter to half an inch of rain won't return, in most years the monsoon stops in mid-September.

Daytime temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to upper 90s.

Las Vegas weather forecasters don't expect to see any more 100-degree days this year, Maker said.

Nighttime temperatures are expected to range from the high 60s later in the week to lower 70s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

"That's normal for this time of year," Maker said.

Not much wind is expected this week. Breezes will remain light, perhaps increasing to the 10 mph to 15 mph range in the afternoons.

Those breezes will be streaming out of the southwest, keeping the valley high and dry.

Clouds and chances for rainfall remain north of Southern Nevada this week.

Sun reporter Jean Reid Norman contributed to this story.