Cold storm brings light snow, rain to valley, but warmer weather moving in

By Dave Toplikar

Sunday, April 10, 2011 | 7:18 a.m.

After a cold Saturday when temperatures didn't even climb out of the 50s and some snow, rain and even hail pelted parts of the Las Vegas Valley, warmer weather is making a comeback today.

Skies will be sunny and temperatures will be about 10 degrees warmer today, climbing into the mid 60s, as a ridge of high pressure moves over the region, according to the National Weather Service.

The ridge then shifts toward the Rocky Mountains tonight ahead of a weak Pacific trough that will move into the Great Basin, sending Las Vegas Valley temperatures up to 70 Monday and into the upper 70s Tuesday, the weather service said.

A persistent area of high pressure will then develop over the southwest states the latter half of the week, creating dry weather and additional warming into the mid 80s going into next weekend, forecasters said.

The cold April storm that hit Las Vegas Saturday brought rain and snow to the area, the weather service said.

Light snow was reported in parts of the Las Vegas Valley. Forecasters said reports of snow in the region ranged from heavy snow in eastern Mohave County to small hail with thunderstorms in Logandale. The Owens Valley also reported light snow, they said.

The weather service reported Summerlin got about .28 of an inch of precipitation and the North Las Vegas Airport reported .03 of an inch.

Mount Charleston had about .87 of an inch of precipitation, with 4 inches of snow in Kyle Canyon at an elevation of 7,450 feet, and 9 inches at the ski resort in Lee Canyon at an elevation of 9,200 feet, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 43 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 52 degrees. The record low was 38 degrees, set in 1950.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 41 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 40 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 36 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 47 degrees by 9 a.m., to 56 degrees by noon and reach a high of 65 degrees by 1 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 76 degrees and the record high was 91 degrees, set in 1950.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 64 degrees by 6 p.m., to 59 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 55 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Monday's morning low will be 52 degrees and Monday's high will climb to 70 degrees, they said.