76 mph gust recorded north of LV; warning issued

By Mary Manning

Published Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 7:38 a.m.

Updated Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 12:06 p.m.

A cold rush of northern air is bringing gusty winds to the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding mountains today, bringing lower temperatures but no rain.

The National Weather Service shortly after 10 a.m. today issued high wind warnings for elevations above 5,000 feet in the Spring Mountains west of the Las Vegas Valley and for the Sheep Mountain range north of the valley until 10 p.m. as gusty winds arrived. That means gusts could top 60 mph.

A gust of 76 mph was recorded at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge north of the Las Vegas Valley this morning, the weather service said.

The weather service issued a wind advisory for the valley. With gusts expected in the 50 mph range for the Lower Colorado River Basin, including Lakes Mead and Mohave, a red flag warning has been posted there. Gusty winds and humidity below 15 percent present an extreme chance of wildfires, forecasters said.

The Clark County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management has issued an air quality advisory for this afternoon and evening because of blowing dust.

The advisory is in place so sensitive Las Vegas residents can prepare to stay inside and avoid airborne particles, and operators of local construction sites in the valley and outlying areas of Clark County can prepare their sites to minimize blowing dust.

Gusty winds often send particles that can be inhaled and air quality officials will watch the skies as the cold front passes through today.

The winds are part of a powerful storm system diving down through the Great Basin from British Columbia, and the storm could bring snow and rain showers to Lincoln County, north of Las Vegas, and northwestern Arizona today and tonight.

Winds are expected to continue, gusting to 23 mph on Friday as temperatures reach about 68 degrees. Then a brief warmup arrives Saturday before another cold and windy weather system heads into Las Vegas on Sunday.

If unhealthy levels of dust occur in Las Vegas, the county will post alerts at www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts/daqem/Pages.index.aspx.

Residents are also encouraged to call the air quality department's dust complaint hot line at 385-DUST (3878) to report excessive amounts of airborne dust.