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Area forecast discussion 
National Weather Service Las Vegas Nevada 
308 PM PST Thursday Mar 11 2010 


Synopsis...high pressure will continue to hold sway over the region 
through Friday and bring with it warmer temperatures and little 
cloud cover. Friday evening through Saturday will see another storm 
from the North Pacific move through the Great Basin. This storm 
will bring lower temperatures...higher elevation snow and breezy to 
windy conditions this weekend. Monday through the middle of next 
week will see a significant warming trend. 
&& 


Short term...the ridging over the area will be the key feature 
today and Friday before we have to contend with the next system 
dropping in from the northern Pacific. The GFS and European model (ecmwf) are fairly 
close to each other in handling the low as it transits the Great 
Basin and into The Four Corners late Friday through Sunday. The 
11/18z nam12 has a more northerly track on this system and was 
pretty much disregarded. The precipitation forecast from the various 
models is limited and primarily going to be on the north or east 
sides of the low as it tracks through Nevada. Not anticipating much 
in the way of accumulations in our northern zones...while the 
eastern Sierra should experience precipitation shadowing. 


The primary concern will be winds. Ahead of the system on Friday 
night/Saturday morning the middle level and higher east slopes of the 
Sierra could have advisory level winds. Local high resolution models 
do not show the parameters for a downslope event. Will let next two 
shifts look at newer model runs to decide if a watch or advisory is 
warranted for Saturday morning or if a downslope potential exists. 
The Spring Mountains of Clark County are shown to have just below 
advisory level winds Saturday morning by the high resolution models. 
Elsewhere the usual areas...western Mojave Desert and morongo 
basin...ahead of the Saturday afternoon frontal passage winds will 
have near advisory level winds. Sunday brings the potential for lake 
wind or higher advisory level winds down the river zones as high 
pressure builds in after the frontal passage. 


The area will clear quickly Sunday as the low moves into Arizona and 
leaves US in dry and cooler north flow. 


Long term...high pressure will be the dominant feature in the 
extended as a large upper ridge builds across the western US. This 
will result in clear skies...relatively light winds...and above 
normal temperatures areawide. The warmest temperatures are expected 
Tuesday and Wednesday...Las Vegas and Death Valley looking at 80+ 
and 90+ degrees respectively by Wednesday. 


A shortwave is prognosticated to move up and over the ridge in the mean 
flow during the week...but will not have any impacts to our region 
until the end of next week. Main impacts at this point look to be 
breezy/windy northerly winds and a slight chance of precipitation...mainly 
across the eastern third of the forecast region. 
&& 


Aviation...for McCarran...no significant weather is expected over 
the next 24 hours as high pressure builds across the region. Clear 
skies and relatively light winds can be expected. The next storm 
system will impact the terminal on Saturday...bringing a slight 
chance of precipitation and gusty surface winds. 


For the rest of southern Nevada...northwest Arizona...and southeast 
California...relatively light winds and clear skies can be expected 
until Saturday...when an area of low pressure results in a gusty 
surface winds areawide and a slight chance of precipitation across northern 
zones. 
&& 


Vef watches/warnings/advisories... 
Nevada...none. 
Arizona...none. 
California...none. 
&& 


$$ 


Jacques/Kennedy 


Http://weather.Gov/lasvegas