North sends its cooling wind to valley

Mary Manning and Ed Koch

Wednesday, April 17, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.

A wind advisory and health alert were in effect in the Las Vegas Valley today as windy conditions returned.

Today's windy weather is the second of a one-two punch from Pacific Northwest storm systems, the National Weather Service at McCarran International Airport said. Winds from 25 mph to 35 mph were expected to kick up in the valley, with gusts to 45 mph, Weather Service meteorologist Jim Harris said.

A wind advisory was issued by the weather service, and the Clark County Air Quality Management Division was standing by to issue a health alert. In such an alert, construction sites are shut down and water trucks sent out to control dust.

Bob Folle, compliance manager with the Air Quality Management office, said on Monday so much dust was kicked up that 13 of the area's 17 health monitoring stations recorded unhealthy levels of fine dust, or PM-10.

"Until the (federal) government approves our PM-10 (state implementation plan) we cannot use a natural weather occurrence as an excuse for an unhealthful day," Folle said.

"Today we are right on the fence -- it could go either way."

Unlike the first wind storm Monday, the air today over the area is cooler, Harris said. The warm air clashed with the colder storm system on Monday, creating winds that gusted to 80 mph. One unofficial report in North Las Vegas pegged a gust at 91 mph.

"It shouldn't be that strong today," Harris said.

The high temperature today is expected to reach 72 degrees, about six degrees cooler than normal, Harris said.

Tuesday's high of 75 degrees was a little cooler than average, he said.