Rain and cool weather ahead

The Las Vegas Valley will reach record highs, then drop 15 degrees, then have rain and snow — all by Friday.

“The end of this week looks pretty busy,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Shafer said Wednesday morning.

Wednesday’s high was 60 degrees; Thursday’s will be 3 degrees below the record high for the date at 71 degrees; and Friday’s high will dip all the way down to 58 degrees, according to the weather service.

“A pretty powerful system is coming,”bringing cool temperatures and 50 percent chance for rain Friday, Shafer said.

Areas of the Spring Mountains, including Mount Charleston, at elevations above 5,000 feet can expect to see “a couple of inches” of snow as a result of the storm.

You might want to avoid the southern Sierra Nevada, where up to a foot of snow could fall between Thursday and Friday, Shafer said.

A winter storm warning has been issued for the California mountain range.

“It’ll be a significant storm for them,” Shafer said.

The same storm will carry enough moisture to drop snow on the western Rocky Mountains — the source of most of the Las Vegas Valley’s drinking water — as it moves east. It’s too early to estimate how much.

Looking into next week, Shafer said temperatures should return to normal — highs in the mid- to upper 50s and lows in the 40s.

Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV