Friday, Sept. 24, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.
The crisp bite of a freshly harvested apple from Gilcrease Orchards. The splash of color in the foliage of Mount Charleston. The relief from triple-digit temperatures of the seemingly endless Las Vegas desert summer.
It's unmistakable that fall has arrived in Southern Nevada.
While New Englanders and others might argue that the normal 92-degree high temperature for this time of year does not conjure traditional images of autumn, many Las Vegans say it is a welcome change from the blistering 110-degree-plus mercury readings of a month or two ago.
"You tend to feel rejuvenated in the fall because summer was so hot that many people tended to stay inside for inactive leisure activities," said Leslie Mihalko, spokeswoman for the Clark County Parks and Recreation Department.
"People now are out and about in the cooler weather. Every picnic area at Sunset Park (for parties of 50 or more) is booked from September to the beginning of December" and about 40,000 people are expected for the Renaissance Festival, Oct. 7-11.
Doug Bennett, conservation manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, echoes similar sentiment.
"A lot of people from Eastern climates break out in the spring, celebrating the end of the harsh winter," he said. "For us, winter is one of our best times of the year. We, however, celebrate fall as a break from our harsh summer. Instead of spring fever we have fall fever."
At Gilcrease Orchards in northwest Las Vegas, the break is ushering in a good fall harvest for apples, the farm's manager Bill Allan said.
The apple harvest has produced 80 tons of Gala apples, 40 tons of red delicious and 35 tons of Granny Smith apples, Allan said, noting that 1,500 gallons of Gilcrease Apple Juice is being produced daily at the facility. But, he said, the pumpkin crop -- a fall mainstay -- is 30 percent to 35 percent off last year's harvest because of insect and virus problems.
"The cooler weather is a great break from the summer heat," Allan said.
John Salmen, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas, said weather patterns tend to stabilize during the fall and bring light, cooler winds to the valley.
"In the fall we do not have a lot of storm systems, and the systems that do form are weaker than during the winter," he said. "Also, the temperatures in the fall gradually drop and remain in the pleasant range through October."
The average 98-degree temperature of early September drops to 92 degrees by Sept. 21, Salmen said, noting that between the end of September and the end of October temperatures drop from an average of 89 degrees to the mid-70s.
Salmen said current temperatures, in the mid- to high 80s, are below normal but are expected to rise to the normal low 90s this weekend.
If people want to experience 60- to 65-degree high daytime temperatures, there is Mount Charleston, where chair lifts give visitors a panoramic view of the fall foliage.
"As I drive up the mountain to come to work, I really enjoy seeing the foliage -- it reminds me of what it was like when I was growing up in Ohio," said Julie Ploeger, office manager of the Mount Charleston Lodge, where she said all 23 cabins are booked for this weekend.
Because Mount Charleston has become a popular year-round attraction, officials are concerned there are not enough services, including portable bathrooms along the trails, to meet the needs of the burgeoning crowds, especially the busloads of tourists who come up weekdays.
"With the increase in our population and tourism, there are needs for a lot more facilities on Mount Charleston," Clark County Commissioner Chip Maxfield said.
"Portable bathrooms are an issue, but so is traffic and parking and how to get people up and down the mountain in times of emergency. We need to examine how we are to use and appreciate the resources."
To that end, the county and U.S. Forestry Division are planning a Mount Charleston summit on Nov. 15 at a location to be determined. A study of the mountain's needs is to be released at the time, Maxfield said.
Issues such as water conservation remain as prevalent in the fall as in the summer in the desert valley.
"You would think that in the fall people would water less, but our research shows that fall is the time of year when yards are most grossly overwatered," water authority spokesman Bennett said.
"Our research found that one in 10 people never change their (lawn sprinkler system) controller -- watering the same in September as they do in July or January. From September to November, plants are being watered 2 1/2 times more than they need to be."
From Sept. 1 through October, lawns in the valley are permitted to be watered just three days per week, Bennett said, noting that last year, local water districts conducted 50,000 field investigations into potential residential water usage violations.
Bennett said the fall also is time for residents to take advantage of the Water Smart Landscape rebate program, which pays $1 per square foot of grass replaced by desert landscaping, up to $300,000.
"During the summer there was a six- to eight-week wait for an inspector to approve plans (for the replacement of sod), now the wait is down to one week," Bennett said.
Another good thing about fall is that there are fewer bugs.
"We see fewer insects -- the numbers taper off as weather cools and daylight shortens," Richard Hicks of Clark County Vector Control said.
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