Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 | 6:59 a.m.
Sun weather coverage
Las Vegas gets gets some relief from record-setting high heat today as cooler temperatures and cloudy skies move in, bringing a chance for showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.
The National Weather Service says temperatures will be 10 to 15 degrees cooler today than Friday, with the high reaching 97 degrees this afternoon. The normal high for today's date is 101 degrees. The record high for today was 110, set in 1939.
Friday's high temperature was 110 degrees at 3:19 p.m. at McCarran International Airport, which broke the old record of 109 set on that date in 1940.
The weather service said air moisture will continue to increase today with scattered showers and thunderstorms spreading north into mainly the Mojave Desert and bringing the chance for precipitation to 30 percent today after 11 a.m.
Tonight, showers and thunderstorms will continue to spread north into the southern Great Basin, with a 40 percent chance of precipitation tonight before 11 p.m., forecasters said.
Periods of brief but heavy rain and wind gusts are possible with these storms. But, because the storms will be moving quickly, the flooding potential is limited, the weather service said.
The chance for thunderstorms will continue Sunday and Monday, but drier, more stable air is expected over the area Tuesday through Friday, forecasters said.
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