LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's a hot and hazy Friday in Southern Nevada, with gusty winds picking up in the afternoon.
We've seen some hazy skies this week, but today has been and will be the haziest by far, with Air Quality Index readings tiptoeing into the "Unhealthy" category at times this morning. AQI has hovered between 120 and 150 for much of Friday morning.
The main culprits, once again, are wildfires burning in Southern California, with southwesterly winds blowing all of that smoke right over the Las Vegas valley. The newest fire is the Canyon Fire northwest of Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles, which broke out Thursday and exploded to almost 5,000 acres overnight according to Cal Fire.
The Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties is now approaching 100,000 acres in size, making it the largest wildfire in California this season, and smoke from the Gifford fire is combining with smoke from the Canyon Fire to make it extra smoky in Las Vegas on Friday.
Recently a lot of that smoke has stayed aloft in the upper layers of our atmosphere, but now it's getting closer to the surface, which is why a lot of us are waking up to that characteristic "wildfire smoke" smell this morning.
Expect hazy skies to persist off and on through the weekend, with a little relief hopefully on the way next week.
Daytime highs will continue to be above average for the next several days (our average for early August is 104), hovering around 108 or 109 through the weekend. Overnight lows will stay in the mid 80s.
It'll also be fairly gusty this afternoon, with gusts between 25 and 35 mph possible, that start to pick up around 2 or 3 p.m.
Looking ahead, it'll be a hot start to the first day of school on Monday, with daytime highs around 110 for most of our neighborhoods.
Enjoy your Friday!
