After blustery front, a warm Memorial Day

The good news: Memorial Day should be beautiful.

The not-so-good news: Getting there looks a bit cold and wet.

A spring storm is expected to sweep through Carson City today and ebb Saturday, bringing temperatures that could dip into the 40s or lower and a light rain that could last for several hours, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Wallmann.

"It always seems like we have one relatively cold storm in late May, early June, but not usually quite this cold," he said.

The high today is predicted to be 54 degrees with a low of 38 degrees, according to the weather service. There's also an 80 percent chance of rain, which Wallmann said would likely be slow and steady for three or four hours with a total accumulation of maybe a quarter of an inch.

It could also lead to snow in the Sierra above 6,000 feet, but Wallmann said it probably wouldn't stick to the roads.

There's a slight chance for rain Saturday also as the storm weakens. The high is predicted to be 61 with a low of about 37, according to the weather service.

By Sunday, the storm should have moved on, though, with the weather service calling for sunny skies and a high temperature of about 70. Monday should be even warmer, with Wallmann saying temperatures could hit the low 80s.

"On Monday, it looks nice," he said.

That bodes well for holiday travelers, which AAA predicts more of this year than last. The auto club expects about 2.5 million residents of the mountain states - Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - to travel at least 50 miles during the holiday weekend, mostly by car. That represents a 1.6 percent increase over last year.

The travel group's forecast, released Monday, shows that the average mountain-state family of four will spend $652 over the weekend and travel about 677 miles.

Nationwide, 34 million people are expected to travel at least 50 miles during the final weekend in May. That's an increase of 1.2 percent.

Memorial Day airfares on average are projected to be about 7 percent lower than in 2011, while hotel rates are expected to be up 8 percent.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.