Cloudy and cooler this afternoon, slight chance of rain tonight for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 | 4:23 a.m.

Kevin Janison

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Clouds will be rolling into the Las Vegas Valley today, holding temperatures down just a bit and bringing a very slight chance of some sprinkles tonight, says Kevin Janison, KSNV-TV meteorologist.

"We have a sky parade which will continue with 'floats' across the sky all day long," Janison said. "In fact, we don’t expect the clearing to occur until tomorrow afternoon."

The system in the Pacific that is shoveling the clouds our way, will split, he said.

"And, with some of the energy going north, and the rest south, it doesn’t leave a lot of energy to get rain out of these clouds," Janison said.

He said he couldn't rule out a Tuesday night sprinkle — or a few mountain flurries — but his confidence was not high for any precipitation.

"As a result of the clouds, the morning low should be a little warmer at 43 degrees, and the afternoon high a little cooler at 58 degrees," he said. "But … with the sun’s return engagement Wednesday afternoon, the mid-60s should be back."

National Weather Service is predicting the morning’s low at McCarran International Airport to be 43 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 42 degrees. The record low was 16 degrees, set in 1989.

Temperatures at McCarran were to rise today to 48 degrees by 9 a.m., to 55 degrees by noon and reach a high of 58 degrees by 3 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 61 degrees and the record high was 77 degrees, set in 1963.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 55 degrees by 6 p.m., to 50 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 47 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Wednesday's morning low will be 44 degrees and Wednesday's high will climb to 66 degrees, they said.