Valley heads toward record warmth

Friday, Jan. 24, 2003 | 9:06 a.m.

If daytime temperatures keep flirting with the 70-degree mark through next week, the Las Vegas Valley will set a record for the warmest January ever, but the mild temperatures have made the air hazier.

Stagnant air capping Southern Nevada has been trapping warmth, dust and haze in the valley, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Fuis said.

A system of high pressure sitting over the Southwest, which brings calm weather, effectively has kept murky air in the valley. As the sun warms the air during the day, dust and haze rises, falling to ground level in the cooler nighttime temperatures.

So far, according to Clark County air quality monitors, there have been no pollution-filled air days in 2003. Dust particles have been recorded in the moderate category -- from 50 to 60 particles per cubic liter of air, which amounts to the number of dust bits in a 3-foot cube.

"That's likely to continue for some time," Fuis said Thursday.

On Wednesday temperatures reached 64 degrees, 6 degrees above the average 58-degree high for the date, Fuis said.

The warmest January on record was in 1986, when the average daily temperature was 51.7 degrees.

So far this month the average temperature has been above the record set in 1986: 52.8 degrees this year compared with 51.7 then, Fuis said.

Five of the warmest Januaries have occurred since the late 1990s.