LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The fallout from several wildfires in California, which are sending smoke into Las Vegas and southern Nevada, is affecting the way people spend their time outdoors.

“I can feel the air quality getting worse. I don’t have any breathing problems, but I’m actually starting to cough. My nose is getting a little stuffy. So I can only imagine how the older people, the younger people, people with medical conditions feel about this,” said Las Vegas tourist DJ

As bridge, rail and airport fires burn thousands of acres in Southern California, Morgan Stessman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, explains the role weather patterns play in the extreme conditions.

“Weather plays a huge role in these situations. Right now, Southern California is just at the tail end of a heat wave. It’s hot, dry, and windy, and those are the three ingredients that can cause this kind of extreme fire behavior.

Due to the ongoing wildfires, it didn’t take long for clouds of smoke and ash to reach Las Vegas.

“We had winds at altitude, kind of a shift to the southwest. So that’s what caused a lot of those kinds of winds overnight and during the day,”

Video footage from last night shows high winds blowing large amounts of smoke and ash into the valley, preventing the Clark County Division of Air Quality from issuing a smoke warning.

“We get what’s called an inversion in the valley at night. It acts as a lid and traps the smoke,” Stessman added.

Due to the poor conditions, a trickle-down effect caused businesses like the Neon Museum to cancel both daytime and evening tours. Clark County School District officials also announced they would cancel outdoor activities, including lunch, recess, gym classes and sporting events.

“The last time we had smoke like this was probably last summer in late July when the Mojave Preserve caught fire. It was the York Fire,” Stessman said.

“The fires that are happening here are also affecting my place in the house because when I walked outside I could smell the fire. What is this? 3-4 hours away from where I live?” asked a tourist from Las Vegas.

Another consequence of the foggy conditions was that several flights were cancelled, resulting in almost 500 delayed flights, affecting hundreds of travellers at Harry Reid International Airport.

“Their second flight was delayed due to a visibility problem, probably because if a pilot can’t see, he can’t land,” DJ said.

A spokesperson for LAS confirmed to News 3 that smoke and haze from wildfires in California were causing delays. However, he said, other impacts across the country were also playing a role, so it’s hard to say how many flights were affected by wildfire conditions.