Storms moving into Las Vegas area

By Dave Toplikar

Thursday, July 12, 2012 | 10:17 a.m.

Say goodbye to the blistering hot weather that’s been baking Las Vegas for the last few days. Clouds rolling in from the south will bring a chance of lightning, strong winds, heavy rains and the possibility of flash flooding to the area through the weekend.

“It’s definitely cooler than yesterday,” Faith Borden, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said Thursday morning.

After hitting 114 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas, temperatures will climb to a mere 107 this afternoon, Borden said.

“There’s a lot more cloud cover and the monsoonal moisture is increasing,” she said.

The Las Vegas Valley can expect a 25 to 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, Borden said. The chances of precipitation increase in the mountains and along the Colorado River Valley, she said.

For any thunderstorms that do develop today in the valley, the main threat will be strong winds of 40 mph or more, she said.

“Humidity values will probably be in the 30 percent range this afternoon, which is actually really quite high for us,” she said. “I think people will notice it.... For me, it’s a lot more comfortable than the extreme heat we’ve had.”

The hot temperatures around the region on Wednesday included a reading in Death Valley of 128 degrees, which was the hottest it’s been there since July 18, 2009, she said. The all-time high temperature at Death Valley is 134 degrees, which was recorded July 10, 1913.

As the monsoon moisture continues to roll in, there’s a greater chance for thunderstorms, with lightning and heavy downpours on Friday and Saturday, she said. The chance for precipitation will climb to around 50 percent Friday, she said.

“Any storms that do produce rain tomorrow will bring heavy rainfall,” she said.

She said there is a potential chance for flash flooding in the region on Friday and Saturday. The weather service will probably issue a flash flooding watch Friday, she said.

“I’d like to remind people as we increase the threat for flash flooding tomorrow into Saturday, to turn around, don’t drown when driving through flooded roadways,” Borden said. “Don’t try to cross flooded intersections.”