Slight chance thunderstorms for Las Vegas area

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, June 11, 2010 | 6:06 a.m.

Cooler temperatures, increasing clouds and a chance of showers and thunderstorms are moving into the Las Vegas area for the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

A storm out of the Pacific will settle over the southern Great Basin and the Mohave Desert before moving east of the area on Sunday, the weather service said.

Forecasters are predicting a brief thunderstorm or two to develop mainly over the surrounding mountains this afternoon and evening. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected mainly north of Las Vegas, they said.

Afternoon temperatures will climb today to only the mid 80s, or about 10 degrees below normal, they said.

Winds are expected to decrease late this morning, then increase from the north this evening, with gusts to around 20 mph, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 75 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 71 degrees. The record low was 55 degrees, set in 1976, 1964 and 1954.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 74 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 75 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 66 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 77 degrees by 9 a.m., to 82 degrees by noon and reach a high of 86 degrees by 4 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 98 degrees and the record high was 109 degrees, set in 1956 and 1940.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 85 degrees by 6 p.m., to 80 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 75 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Saturday's morning low will be 69 degrees and Saturday's high will climb to 80 degrees, they said.