Recipe for smog soup: Mix sun, smoke, dust and car emissions

Monday, Aug. 19, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

This summer hasn't offered any relief from heat, haze or drought, as Sunday's skies showed.

The Las Vegas Valley baked at 110 degrees, barely missing the 1992 record of 111 degrees, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Fuis said.

The heat and dry air, coupled with the lack of a good wind, have caused a haze that has hung over the valley since last week.

The Clark County Division of Air Quality Management today advised children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems to limit their outdoor activity.

Normal high temperature for today is 101 degrees, but today it is forecast to be warmer than that, closer to 105 degrees, Fuis said.

"As long as I've been here this has been the driest, hottest summer," Fuis, a resident since 1991, said Sunday night.

The ingredients in the smog soup include ozone from vehicle exhaust cooked by sunlight, dust and smoke from forest fires in neighboring states.

Despite its looks, the weekend's ozone stayed in the moderate category, spreading across the valley by the afternoon breezes.

Weather forecasters are watching a front west of the Pacific Northwest that could clip Southern Nevada by midweek, bringing cooler temperatures and clearer skies.

By Thursday temperatures may only reach 99 degrees, cooled by wind, according to the forecast.

Although thunderstorms have rumbled in southeastern Arizona and New Mexico, the seasonal Southwest monsoonal moisture has stayed away from Las Vegas this year.

By the weekend temperatures are expected to reach the low 100s again.

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