Wildfire warning, wind advisory issued for Las Vegas

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, May 21, 2010 | 6:29 a.m.

A mix of dry air, warm temperatures and gusty southwest winds today will create ripe conditions for wildfires, leading the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for the Las Vegas area.

The red flag warning remains in effect from 11 a.m. today to 11 p.m. Saturday for Clark County, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Mojave Desert in California and the northwest deserts of Arizona.

The weather service has also issued a wind advisory for that time period for the area to warn motorists that crosswinds will be strong enough to make driving difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles, such as vans, trucks and buses. Blowing dust could also reduce visibility, forecasters said.

Winds will increase across the warning area late this morning. Southwest winds will become sustained around 20 mph, with widespread gusts between 40 to 50 mph, forecasters said.

Relative humidity levels will drop to generally around 10 percent, the weather service said. The strong winds and low relatives humidity will return again by late Saturday morning and persist through Saturday evening, forecasters said.

Areas most susceptible to to wildfires will be at elevations below 4,000 feet, where very fine dry vegetation would make for quick-burning fuel, forecasters said.

As a low pressure system moves into western Nevada, much cooler temperatures will arrive Saturday, with highs climbing to only 78 degrees. As the low pressure system arrives on Sunday, the high temperature will climb to only 71 and there will be a chance for showers mainly to the north of Las Vegas, forecasters said.

At 5:56 a.m. today, the temperature at McCarran International Airport was 68 degrees. The normal low for today's date is 64 degrees. The record low was 42 degrees, set in 1975.

Around the valley just before 5 a.m., temperatures were 63 degrees at North Las Vegas Airport, 68 degrees at Nellis Air Force Base and 68 degrees at Henderson Executive Airport.

Temperatures in the valley were to rise today to 78 degrees by 9 a.m., to 85 degrees by noon and reach a high of 90 degrees by 5 p.m., forecasters said. The normal high for today's date is 89 degrees and the record high was 104 degrees, set in 1975.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 89 degrees by 6 p.m., to 78 degrees by 9 p.m. and to 70 degrees by midnight, forecasters said.

Saturday's morning low will be 60 degrees and Saturday's high will climb to 79 degrees, they said.