Something special in the air
Lower temperatures, higher winds visiting valley as autumn nears
The effects of a cold front that brought strong winds and a sharp drop in temperatures to the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday are set to linger for a few more days.
The National Weather Service said gusts up to 61 mph hit Nellis Air Force Base, while other parts of the valley felt winds up to 55 mph.
Tuesday’s high temperature of 90 degrees was reached before sunrise, at
4:34 a.m., meteorologist Kate Guillet said. The afternoon temperature only rose to 83.
Guillet said the high would drop to 81 on Wednesday before climbing to 87 on Thursday, 95 on Friday, 99 on Saturday and 101 on Sunday. Tuesday’s overnight
low was expected to drop to about 65 with gusts up to 28 mph.
The wind didn’t deter Las Vegas resident and avid golfer Rob Clark from playing at Bali Hai Golf Club on the Strip. He said he prefers adverse weather for the challenge and because there are fewer people on the course.
“It’s part of the game; gotta play with Mother Nature,” he said. “That’s what makes the game hard. It’s always changing — consistently inconsistent.”
The winds from the north pushed much of the California wildfire smoke out of the hazy Las Vegas sky
and even toppled a street light on Peccole Strada, near Fort Apache Road and Charleston Boulevard.
But the weather service warned that windy conditions this week could bring in smoke from fires burning in Utah and Colorado.
A high-wind warning that was in effect Tuesday for Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Colorado River Valley — where winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph were forecast — will revert to an advisory Wednesday with northerly winds of 20 to 30 mph expected.