More showers, thunderstorms moving into Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 | 6:15 a.m.

Scattered showers, isolated thunderstorms and the possibility of minor flooding are on the way to the Las Vegas Valley today, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms, which have the potential of producing heavy rains, will cause minor flooding of low-lying areas, such as normally dry washes and roadway intersections, the weather service said.

Forecasters said it looks as if there will be a lull in action around Las Vegas this morning, before the rainfall returns in the afternoon.

Some of the stronger storms could produce between a half-inch and three-quarters of an inch, but most areas will get less than a third of an inch, they said.

They said a low pressure system slowly will move out of the desert southwest this week, bringing more rain Tuesday and Wednesday, especially across far southern Nevada, southern California and northwest Arizona.

At 5:56 a.m., McCarran International Airport reported .33 of an inch of rain in the previous 24 hours.

Overnight, a cluster of thunderstorms moved into the far west end of the Las Vegas Valley, resulting in heavy rainfall in Summerlin and the Lone Mountain area, the weather service said. The storms, which passed through between about 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., resulted in rainfall amounts between four-tenths and eights-tenths of an inch, bringing the most rain to those neighborhoods since Feb. 6, the weather service said.

The heaviest rain on Sunday was mainly in far northeast Clark County and across northern Mohave County in Arizona, where radar estimates of more than 2 inches occurred in the South Cove and Grand Canyon Ranch areas of Mohave County, the weather service said.

At McCarran, the official reporting station for Las Vegas, 0.27 of an inch fell Sunday. That was the most rainfall on a single day at McCarran this year, since .41 of an inch fell Feb. 6. It also ties with Jan. 20 for the fifth highest precipitation total for the year.

For 2010 through Sunday, there have been 42 days to see at least a trace of precipitation at McCarran, with at least .01 of an inch falling on 19 days.

As of 11 p.m. Sunday, the following rainfall amounts fell across the Las Vegas Valley at National Weather Service recording stations:

National Weather Service Office, .51 of an inch, Desert Tortoise Area, .39; McCarran, .27; East Henderson No. 2, .2; Pittman Wash at Wigwam, .16; Summerlin Northwest, .16; Aliante, .12; Henderson Executive Airport, .05; Downtown Las Vegas, .04; Nellis Air Force Base, .01; North Las Vegas Airport, .01.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 61 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 56 degrees. The record low was 35 degrees, set in 1938.

Around the valley just before 6 a.m., temperatures were 62 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 63 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 60 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 69 degrees by 9 a.m., to 75 degrees by noon and reach a high of 77 degrees by 2 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 80 degrees and the record high was 95 degrees, set in 1958 and 1940.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 76 degrees by 6 p.m., to 70 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 67 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Tuesday's morning low will be 63 degrees and Tuesday's high will climb to 81 degrees, they said.