The roller coaster ride that often accompanies the weather this time of year will climb to the top of the tracks Thursday before sliding back down into cooler, windier and potentially wetter weather as we go into the weekend.

With the exit of the southern Nevada low, a ridge of high pressure will move onshore warming us up into the low 80s in the valleys with sunny skies. A low in the Gulf of Alaska will approach on Thursday, bringing in some clouds, slightly cooler temperatures (back into the 70s) and will kick up some gusty winds ahead of a weekend that will be chilly (low 60s) and showery.

Earlier in May we celebrated National Air Quality Awareness Week. I hope the loud music didn’t keep you awake. The most common types of pollution affecting us here in western Nevada are Particulate Matter and Ozone. Particulate pollution consists of microscopic particles of dust, ash, smoke, or anything else which can be trapped in filters. This is the most common type of winter air pollution with which we have to deal.

There are several reasons for this. Tomorrow I’ll tell you why.