Warm fall start in Las Vegas to be joined by haze, smoke
Fall arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday with temperatures warmer than normal, and a forecast of smoky skies, according to the National Weather Service.
The autumnal equinox arrived at 12:21 p.m. Wednesday. The normal high for Sept. 22 is 93 while the Wednesday hit 98 at McCarran International Airport, the official weather station for the valley.
“Smoke from the fires in Sequoia National Park are headed straight toward Las Vegas,” said weather service meteorologist John Adair.
A view of the #WindyFire at 6:24 pm PDT this evening...the primary source of smoke headed our way from the southern Sierra. #cawx #nvwx #VegasWeather pic.twitter.com/J2xPYZIWXZ
— NWS Las Vegas (@NWSVegas) September 23, 2021
Haze and smoke is expected to arrive in the valley before 5 a.m. Thursday and build through Friday afternoon.
A disturbance coming south from Utah and Nevada will bring northerly winds and push the smoke south out of the valley by Friday afternoon or evening, Adair said.
The Thursday high will be around 96 while overnight lows will be in the lower 70s.
The high temperatures for the weekend will be in the mid-90s.
The ancient massive trees of Sequoia National Park’s famed Giant Forest were unscathed Tuesday even though a wildfire has been burning near them on the western side of California’s Sierra Nevada for nearly two weeks.
“As of right now we don’t have any damage to any of our trees,” said fire information officer Mark Garrett.
The KNP Complex, two lightning-sparked fires that merged, has spread over more than 39 square miles, feeding on other types of trees that also live on the high-elevation slopes of the mountain range.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
