[rjaajr]

I am considering moving to Las Vegas and would like to know about air quality there. I am allergic to many things, some would be improved (no dust mites, low pollen counts) in Vegas, however I am concerned about dust and air pollution. I have five questions:
1) how often is there visible dust or smog in the air, on average, how many days per month have a lower air quality?
2. Do you get dust storms there, how often if so?
3. Are there desert allergy issues that effect many people there that I am not aware of ?
4. Does the dry air dry out peoples lungs there/effect breathing?
5. Do many people wind up moving away because they can't adjust to the pollution or climate change?
Thanks in advance, I have a good job opportunity. I have a family with small children, not into the strip other than would enjoy an occasional show. Cost of living seems low and we are excited to go if I can find out if I can handle the climate for my allergies and pollution sensitivities.

[sohi89141]

Look here Clark County, NV Air Quality and here DAQ.

[rjaajr]

A little backround information, I lived in Reno for a year about 5 years ago, no noticeable air pollution, summer was great, fall was great , no allergic issues, winter was fine, but spring trees there hit me hard..... I have gone through Las Vegas 3 times, first time was mild weather and it felt great there, second time was about 85 degrees and it felt great also... last time though was when moving out of Reno and the A/C had just gone out, drove all day from Reno to Vegas with no A/C on a hot day. Got to Vegas and it was even hotter , 100 plus, there was a haze over the city. Went to visit an uncle who lives there but my lungs hurt and didn't stay, felt need to get out because it was harder to breathe deep, driving out of town at midnight the bank temperature read 100 degrees and I was like 'what the hell'????

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by rjaajr

I am considering moving to Las Vegas and would like to know about air quality there. I am allergic to many things, some would be improved (no dust mites, low pollen counts) in Vegas, however I am concerned about dust and air pollution. I have five questions:
1) how often is there visible dust or smog in the air, on average, how many days per month have a lower air quality?
2. Do you get dust storms there, how often if so?
3. Are there desert allergy issues that effect many people there that I am not aware of ?
4. Does the dry air dry out peoples lungs there/effect breathing?
5. Do many people wind up moving away because they can't adjust to the pollution or climate change?
Thanks in advance, I have a good job opportunity. I have a family with small children, not into the strip other than would enjoy an occasional show. Cost of living seems low and we are excited to go if I can find out if I can handle the climate for my allergies and pollution sensitivities.

There is plenty of pollen here in the spring and fall, and we do have dust mites.
I've never met anyone who has moved away due to air quality issues.

100 degree nights are not uncommon in July and August

[Cyborgt800]

I also have allergies which were bad on the Eastern part of the country. Once I moved to Denver then lightened up considerably, then living in Yuma AZ they were non-existant....but when I moved to LV they were horrible year round!

I had assumed that all deserts were created equal....they are not! The LV area is so full of foreign foliage that my asthma and allergies were horrible....I'm in West-Central Texas now and have no problems...

I love LV but the air is horrible...not from pollution, but from pollen.....pollen and silica dust!

[Raiderman]

My wife has lung damage from being in a fire, so is very sensitive to air quality. Even in 100+ degree temperatures, she states that she can breathe much better here than back in New England, much of that due to the very low humidity. We have seen the smog-bank on the strip, particularly, from our vantage point SouthEast. Also, I have seen the strip barely visible due to dust from high winds, but I would put that in the 1 day a month category, if that.

[rjaajr]

Thanks for the feedback, it is really helping me in making the decision of whether or not to make the move. Thanks Sohi for the links, but they were not as helpful as I had hoped, listing Las Vegas as 96% good days (when Los Angeles scores 94%???????)doesn't capture how bad it may get for those of us sensitive to dust or pollen on bad days, but thanks anyway.

NLVgal, I was under the impression that mites could not live in low humidity climates, so that's news to me, how often are the nights still hot (say 80+)?

Good to hear your allergies improved Cyborg, in W Tx, is the pollen bad in LV in both spring and fall? I'm showing my ignorance here, but silica from where?

Raider, if the high humidity in the East effects your wife's breathing worse, its good that she is not sensitive to the other extreme of dry oven heat out west.... I worked in Pueblo, CO for awhile and remember going outside and being overwhelmed with the (dry) heat hitting me, like the sensation of opening an oven door (sure it was only 108 or so for 4 days, but it was hard to even touch the steering wheel getting in the car in the milder 'dry heat'. How far out into the suburbs does the thick dust or ozone pollution tend to drift? Are there areas that tend to have cleaner air in or around LV?

[rjaajr]

I'm reading here, what is desert fever?

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by rjaajr

I'm reading here, what is desert fever?

You mean valley fever? It's when the dirt gets kicked up and little spores get into people's lungs. Most people have no symptoms, but they do show up as little black dots on chest X-Rays.

It gets very hot here in the summer, and it's quite dry. We don't get a lot of dust storms because the desert is not actually sandy, it's heavy clay. Sometimes, when there is construction going on, the dust does get kicked up. I'd avoid areas with new housing being built nearby for that reason.

When I was in Sedona, AZ a few weeks ago, they had high winds and it was remarkable how much dust / dirt was blowing around. I wasn't used to that, even though we frequently get winds here.

As far as smog goes, we don't have much problem with it. Sometimes, if there are wildfires in California, or dust storms in Phoenix, we get a haze going on, but I would not classify it as a smog problem.

Do you know specifically which plants / pollen cause your symptoms?

[rjaajr]

Hi, thanks NLVgal that helps to know, I assumed it was a like dust floor there, but if it is actually a heavier sandy consistency, not a fine powder, I don't think it would be much of a problem at all of dust in the air there and it sounds like air pollution is not a big deal either.... it just freaked me out a bit the time I went to Vegas , extremely hot, drove all day with no A/C and my lungs hurt in high heat and had this compulsion to get out of there. Maybe it was just the all day driving in high heat, not Vegas that made that event....Ok, valley fever, how often does that happen, people don't get sick from it? How often do you get LA smog drift or forest fires smoke? Yeah, I am highly allergic to ragweed, but fall weeds in Reno didnt bother me at all, yet, surprisingly, the spring trees there gave me fits... I live in southern Alabama near the Gulf now and spring and fall pollens don't bother me, took shots for 4 years when young in Iowa and North Carolina both...not sure of specific allergens most sensitive to. I do know that driving through the southwest the only area I felt allergic was Albuquerque and eastern NM, but was fine in west Tx going back east, no problem in Flagstaff, so who knows..