By Kathryn Reed

Keep the umbrellas handy today, but have the sunscreen within reach because a record high is possible by the end of the week in Lake Tahoe.

“It’s certainly unusual for this time of year,” is how Shane Snyder, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno, described the rain that has been soaking the Lake Tahoe Basin and points east and west.

If it’s going to be wet, usually it’s isolated thunderstorms. Not so with this cold system that is moving in from the Pacific. It’s more reminiscent of a winter storm pattern.

Wet weather is going to stick around for another day in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Photo/Kathryn Reed

The rain hasn’t been enough to wash away the D word. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated all counties in Nevada, except for Storey County, natural drought disaster areas. All California counties along the Nevada border have been given the same designation.

According to the National Weather Service, “Near record dryness has prevailed since January. Precipitation from January to May 2013 has ranked in the lowest 10 percent on record in most of Western Nevada and Northern California.”

The West Shore has been getting most of the rain. That is expected to continue through much of Tuesday.

“We’ll start to dry out for good Tuesday night and onward for a while,” Snyder said.

The rain is doing a couple things – washing away all the pine pollen and lessening the risk of fire.

But with temps expected to soar again by the end of the week, the fire danger will return.

Snyder said temps could be 10 to 15 degrees above average starting on Friday and lasting through the weekend. Locations closer to the lake will be in the 80s, while outlying areas like Truckee are expected to be closer to 90 degrees.

The record in South Lake Tahoe for June 28 and June 29 is 87 degrees. The former was set in 2010, while the latter was set in 1972. Truckee’s record high of 92 for June 28 was set in 1915, and the June 29 record of 91 was set in 1956.

All of those, Snyder told Lake Tahoe News, could be broken.

And expect warmer than usual weather for July 4.