It looks like the temperature has peaked, and now as the ridge of high pressure slowly weakens, the temperatures will reflect that. Skies should stay sunny through Saturday as the high temperature drops to the low 90s on Thursday, the upper 80s on Friday, near 80 degrees on Saturday and then drop to the mid-70s on Sunday. As the colder air moves in, afternoon winds will be pretty strong, with Friday afternoon gusts to 30 mph or more. A trough of low pressure will back in from the northeast over the weekend, and the cool pool of air associated with it could produce isolated showers starting on Sunday.

It has been a while since we have had a major earthquake here in western Nevada, but we certainly live in an area that could have one. Jessica asks:  “How far away will a 7.0 earthquake effect, versus a 6.0 and 5.0? Thanks for any input you have.”

It’s hard to put into real precise terms, because the distance felt depends on several factors, including direction of the fault movement and the rock it is passing through, as well as the depth of the hypocenter and the surrounding geology. I’ll have more on this tomorrow.