Scattered thunderstorms may hit valley Friday, Saturday

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:51 a.m.

Only a trace of rain fell in the Las Vegas Valley on Wednesday, but the National Weather Service said there is a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

The chance for thunder and lightning for later in the day will continue through Friday and even Saturday, weather service forecasters said.

Temperatures will rise into the high 50s to low 60s during the day and the lows will remain in the mid to low 40s overnight.

After a break in the storms Sunday, the weather service expects another storm system to park itself off the California coast as soon as Monday night, forecaster Clay Morgan said.

More rain could start falling as soon as Tuesday, although meteorologists said the exact timing and amounts of precipitation cannot be predicted until the storm moves further south.

Las Vegas residents and local public works crews continued mopping up mud and debris from homes, roads and highways.

Some road shoulder repairs have to be made in the northwest valley after running water removed pavement during this week's storms, county Public Works spokesman Bobby Shelton said.

Most of the debris and rocks were washed out of existing yards and from areas under development.

In one case a county crew found a mattress with a tire on top of it blocking a storm drain in the northwest valley, Shelton said.

The Nevada Department of Transportation found no major damage to outlying state routes, spokesman Bob McKenzie said.