RENO, Nev. (AP) - Dense smoke from California wildfires obscured the sun at times in Reno Wednesday as Nevada continued to bake in record temperatures and an excessive heat warning was extended into Friday night in Las Vegas.
The biggest utilities in Nevada and California urged residents to conserve electricity for the second day in a row as demand strained the region’s electrical grid and raised the threat of rolling blackouts.
“Dangerously hot” temperatures are expected through Friday in parts of southern Nevada, southeast California and northwest Arizona, the National Weather Service said.
Highs should continue to top 110 (43.3 Celsius) in Las Vegas into Friday and are forecast as high as 112 to 120 (44.4 to 48.9 C) at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on the Nevada-Arizona line east of Las Vegas.
A new record-high Wednesday of 113 degrees (45 C) in Las Vegas for the date was down from 114 (45.5 C) on Tuesday, but marked the sixth consecutive day of 110 (43.3 C) or hotter. Wednesday’s old record of 111 (43.9 C) dated to 1992.
Las Vegas’ low temperature of 89 (31.7 C) on Tuesday was 3 degrees (1.7 C) warmer than the previous record-high low of 86 (31.6 C) set in 2018.
Washoe County schools, which postponed the restart of classes for a day this week due to heavy smoke from a fire north of Reno, canceled all outdoor activities on Wednesday as air quality approached the “very unhealthy” category for the general population.
The air quality index reached 192 at one point Wednesday afternoon on a scale that considers 150 to 200 “unhealthy.”
The smoke now is the product of about two dozen major fires burning in Northern California, mostly north of San Francisco Bay 200 miles (321 kilometers) away.
The Reno-Sparks area remained under a dense smoke advisory until 11 a.m. Thursday, with visibility less than 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) in Reno and at Lake Tahoe.
The record-high temperature of 100 degrees (37.8 C) in Reno on Tuesday broke the old record of 99 (37.2 C) set at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in 1946. South Lake Tahoe, California also set a new record of 90 (32.2 C) on Tuesday, topping the old mark of 89 (31.7 C) set in 2015.
Other high temperatures on Tuesday included 115 (46 C) in North Las Vegas, 113 (45 C) in Henderson, 103 (39.4 C) in Elko, 102 (38.9 C) in Winnemucca, 101 (38.3 C) in Tonopah and Wendover and 100 (37.8 C) in Lovelock.
The weather service said temperatures will lower only a degree or two a day through Friday across most of southern Nevada. But that by the weekend “increasing cloud cover and low-level moisture content should aid in ending this historic mid-August heatwave.”
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