Fine Friday weather to turn dangerously windy on weekend

Friday was a great mid-October weather day for the Las Vegas Valley. Not so for the rest of the weekend.

A virtually cloudless, sunny Friday with a high of 86 degrees was to give way Friday night to building winds of 9 to 13 mph, with gusts up to 18 mph. And that was just the beginning.

A National Weather Service wind advisory begins at 11 a.m. Saturday while a Clark County dust advisory has been issued for all of Saturday. The service raised the advisory to a high wind warning for the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon, Mount Charleston, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City.

Pine Dining moved Saturday’s Harvest Brunch to Sunday due to the expected extreme weather conditions on Mount Charleston. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, according to organizers.

Southwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are possible. Gusts could reach 65 mph near Red Rock, the warning stated.

A Saturday high of 83 is forecast with sunny skies.

Patchy blowing dust is possible after 11 a.m., and a southwest wind of 15 to 20 mph will increase to 28 to 33 mph in the afternoon. Gusts could reach 49 mph as a low pressure cold front moves from Northern Nevada into the Southern Nevada region.

Winds will shift to the north with the passage of the front, expected early Sunday morning.

The wind advisory, which covers Southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southeast California, runs through 5 a.m. Sunday.

Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and power outages may result, says the weather service.

Motorists should use extra caution when driving, especially when handling a high profile vehicle. Outdoor objects need to be secured.

Saturday night will bring a 20 percent chance of showers after 11 p.m. Patchy blowing dust could occur before midnight. The night will be partly cloudy with a Sunday morning low around 55.

Sunday will be sunny with a high near 68. The Monday morning low could be just below 50 degrees.

Highs early next week will be in the mid-70s with lows around 50.

Dust advisory

The Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability issued a dust advisory for Saturday to advise residents and construction sites of the possibility of elevated levels of blowing dust because of the forecast of high winds.

Airborne dust is a form of air pollution called particulate matter, which aggravates respiratory diseases.

Under windy conditions people with heart or lung disease, older adults and children may feel better staying indoors as much as possible because they could be at greater risk from particulates, especially when they are physically active, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Consult your physician if you have a medical condition that makes you sensitive to air pollution.

Tips to limit exposure to dust include:

■ Limit outdoor exertion when dust is in the air. Exercise, for example, makes you breathe heavier and increases the amount of particulates you are likely to inhale.

■ Keep windows and doors closed.

■ Run your house and car air conditioners to filter out particulates.

■ Consider changing your indoor air filters if they are dirty.

■ To keep dust down, drive slowly on unpaved roads.

■ Don’t take shortcuts across vacant lots.

■ Ride off-road vehicles in approved areas outside the urban Las Vegas Valley.

Call Environment and Sustainability’s dust complaint hotline at 702-385-DUST (3878) to report excessive amounts of blowing dust from construction sites, vacant lots or facilities.

Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on Twitter.