Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Las Vegas, NV
Issued by NWS Las Vegas, NV
334 FXUS65 KVEF 150453 CCA AFDVEF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Las Vegas NV 952 PM PDT Tue May 14 2024 .SYNOPSIS...An upper low near southern California will keep limited moisture and instability over our region leading to isolated light showers or sprinkles along with a few thunderstorms through Wednesday. An eastern Pacific ridge nosing inland will bring even warmer weather by Friday with highs climbing around 10 degrees above normal. A slight cooling trend with increasing southwest winds develops late this weekend into early next week. && .UPDATE...Continuing to see scattered virga showers across the southern Great Basin and Mojave Deserts this evening. Instances of lightning have diminished, but can`t rule out a stray strike. DCAPE measured on the 00Z sounding is over 1500 J/kg with very dry low levels. As such, gusty winds from the direction of these virga showers have been observed all evening with gusts between 25 and 35 mph. Showers will continue to decrease through the evening and overnight period. No changes made to the forecast as it looks to be in good shape. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...1247 PM PDT Tue May 14 2024/ .SHORT TERM...through Thursday Night. Scattered to broken clouds and isolated light showers and thunderstorms will continue this afternoon due to limited mid level moisture and instability in a broad deformation zone draped across our forecast area. Any precipitation will be light and the main hazard aside from lightning will be convective wind gusts. The latest HREF indicates a 30-50 percent probability of gusts over 35 mph confined primarily over eastern Lincoln County and far northeast Mohave County. Showers may continue after sunset as the area of moisture slowly becomes a little more consolidated while it transitions southward tonight and Wednesday due northerly flow aloft increasing and nudging the SoCal low inland just south of the Mexico border. This will produce more cloud cover and isolated light showers or sprinkles over parts of Clark, San Bernardino and Mohave counties Wednesday morning through the afternoon. Clouds clearing out Wednesday night under dry northerly flow aloft will yield sunny skies Thursday with general north winds 5 to 15 mph. High temps will climb a degree or two as an eastern Pacific ridge noses inland. && .LONG TERM...Friday through next Tuesday. A growing ridge over the eastern Pacific will continue to grow over the western United States late-week into the weekend. Temperatures will remain 10 to 12 degrees above seasonal averages, with desert valleys increasing to "Moderate" HeatRisk. Las Vegas has a 50% chance of the first 100F of the year on Friday and a 30% chance on Saturday. There remains a fairly large temperature spread over the weekend and into the start of next week (10 degrees between the 25th and the 75th percentiles) in the NBM. This is largely due to the approach of a closed low in the southeastern Pacific which will lower heights over the region as it pushes inland. Details regarding strength, location, and timing will continue to be ironed out as we move through the week. && .AVIATION...For Harry Reid...Winds generally light and favoring an easterly direction through 3 pm then shifting to the south or southwest. There is a 25-30% chance of sustained winds at above 10 knots during the afternoon hours. Southerly winds tonight are forecast to be under 10 knots. Mid and upper level clouds with bases at or above 12kft will continue to stream across the Las Vegas area through the forecast period. For the rest of southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California...Winds increase out of the south to southwest with speeds over 10 knots this afternoon in the Las Vegas Valley and the Colorado River Valley. At KIFP and KEED, this will also include gusts between 15-20 knots. At KBIH, winds are forecast to follow a diurnal pattern however, thunderstorms will also develop in the afternoon which may cause sudden changes in wind direction and speed. Winds will follow a diurnal pattern at KDAG with speeds over 10 knots in the evening. Mid and upper level clouds stream across the area through the forecast period. && .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...Spotters are encouraged to report any significant weather or impacts according to standard operating procedures. && $$ UPDATE...Varian SHORT TERM...Adair LONG TERM...Varian AVIATION...Salmen For more forecast information...see us on our webpage: https://weather.gov/lasvegas or follow us on Facebook and Twitter