Wet but warm weekend ahead for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 | 5:11 a.m.

It might be a good idea to grab an umbrella on the way out this morning — and keep it handy for the next few days.

There's a slight chance of rain before 10 a.m. today for the Las Vegas Valley and wet weather could last through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

A weak Pacific storm moving across southern California and southern Arizona will produce areas of rain across the Mojave Desert today, mostly south of Interstate 40, the weather service said.

After a brief break tonight, a significant plume of moisture will affect the west, beginning Friday and lasting into early next week, forecasters said.

Significant snow is expected in the Sierra Nevada Mountains beginning Friday afternoon and continuing at least through the weekend, with periods of heavy snow and strong winds over the crest and down to the resorts on the eastern slopes, forecasters said. Travel could become difficult or impossible, they said.

A chance for rain and snow in the high elevations is headed to the southern Great Basin and a slight chance of rain to the Mojave Desert, forecasters said.

High temperatures will dip into the upper 50s today and Friday, but will rebound into the low and mid 60s through the weekend, forecasters said.

At 4:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 51 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 36 degrees. The record low was 23 degrees, set in 1964.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 51 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 52 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 49 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 48 degrees by 9 a.m., to 55 degrees by noon and reach a high of 57 degrees by 2 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 57 degrees and the record high was 74 degrees, set in 1980.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 51 degrees by 6 p.m., to 49 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 46 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Friday's morning low will be 42 degrees and Friday's high will climb to 56 degrees, they said.