Slight chance of rain tonight for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010 | 5:39 a.m.

Cloudy skies today, with high temperatures hitting the low 60s and a slight chance of rain tonight are in the forecast for Las Vegas.

Considerable moisture will accompany a weak storm system moving across the region today and tonight, according to the National Weather Service.

Any rain or snow produced by the system will be light and primarily confined to the higher terrain, the weather service said.

The chance for rain tonight in Las Vegas is about 20 percent, forecasters said.

The most favorable spot for light snow will be elevations higher than 5,000 feet in Lincoln and northern Mohave counties and the Spring Mountains/Sheep Range, forecasters said.

An increasingly wet weather pattern will then develop by Friday and persist through the weekend as an extensive stream of deep Pacific moisture takes aim on the western states, forecasters said.

However, the probability of widespread hazardous weather is low, they said.

Warm air will accompany the moisture and keep snow levels generally above elevations of 7,500 to 8,000 feet, they said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 60 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 36 degrees. The record low was 14 degrees, set in 1940.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 48 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 50 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 57 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures at McCarran were to be 54 degrees by 9 a.m., 59 degrees by noon and reach a high of 62 degrees by 1 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 57 degrees and the record high was 75 degrees, set in 1980 and 1977.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 58 degrees by 6 p.m., to 55 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 52 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Thursday's morning low will be 47 degrees and Thursday's high will climb to 57 degrees, they said.