lightning

Showers and thunderstorms may develop Friday afternoon around Carson City with the potential for heavier bands of precipitation arriving early Saturday morning, a National Weather Service forecaster said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Colby said the brunt of Friday’s weather will be north of Interstate 80, possibly moving southward into the afternoon and early evening.

Heavy rain and lightning suspended the Western Nevada College-College of Southern Nevada baseball series on Thursday afternoon at John L. Harvey Field in Carson City.

The teams will pick up action at 10 a.m. Friday, with the Wildcats batting in the bottom of the fifth inning and the score tied at 2. Weather allowing, the teams will try to play two additional games following the completion of the suspended game.

Rain and thunderstorms have arrived in Carson City this morning with some lightning strikes causing a handful of outages and power pole fires.
With the Nevada Law Enforcement Memorial ceremony happening at noon today, there are contingency plans to move the ceremony inside the State Legislative Building if the heavy rain and thunderstorms persist, according to Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong.

A few showers, some with thunder and lightning are possible later today, then storm chances increase Wednesday with a few strong storms possible, according to the National weather Service. More widespread rain and high elevation snow, with possible thunder storms will continue Thursday and into the weekend as low pressure remains over the region.

The Brewery Arts Center (BAC) in downtown Carson City will be hosting a free summer concert series this year, sponsored by the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation.

Through the efforts of the BAC, Carson City was one of 15 cities nationwide awarded the concert series for 2016.

The Levitt AMP Carson City Music Series kicks off June 4 and will run every Saturday evening through August 6 with live music starting at 7 p.m. along Minnesota Street next to the BAC. The 10-week music series will include one Friday night show on June 17.

The concert series is free and open to the public.

Low pressure will move over northeast California and western Nevada Wednesday, bringing showers and isolated afternoon thunderstorms to the region, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service in Reno was tracking a series of strong thunderstorms that began at around 5 p.m. that extend from Fernley to Dayton with lighting strikes and rain already arriving in Carson City.

As most column writers will tell you, reader reaction to columns you're particularly proud of can range from crickets to complaints to an occasional "good column" e-mail, phone call or comment.
And every so often, you catch lightning in a bottle.

If you are looking for a good day trip north of Carson City, with plenty of opportunities to fish, photograph, sightsee or shop, climb aboard and take a ride with stops along the way as you head to Plumas County.

When Sen. Dean Heller, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and California Gov. Jerry Brown all met up on the shores of Lake Tahoe for their annual Tahoe Summit, attention started with protecting the deep, blue waters of the pristine lake. But this year, attention turned quickly to wildfire.

“Lake Tahoe isn’t going to be blue if the forests are gone,” Graham Kent, director of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Nevada Seismological Laboratory, said. “You actually want to keep the Lake Tahoe Basin green — and protected from wildfires.”

The most veteran-laden squad in Western Nevada College softball program history enters the fall with the confidence and experience to produce success.

The Flying Eagles VFA-122 will be performing demonstration flights in the F18F Super Hornet during the Carson Valley Aviation Roundup August 22-23 at Minden-Tahoe Airport.

UPDATE: Sierra-at-Tahoe will hold a candlelight vigil Wednesday for Michael Hallenbeck of Shingle Springs, Calif. The 21-year old U.S. Forest Service firefighter died Saturday fighting a lightning-caused fire south of Echo Summit. Known by friends and family as Mikey, Hallenbeck was a Sierra-at-Tahoe employee for the past two seasons and a local firefighter.

UPDATE: A 21-year-old firefighter from Shingle Springs, Calif., died Saturday afternoon as a result of injuries received while suppressing a wildfire on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit in Northern California.
Michael Hallenbeck was a member of Organized Crew 36 on the LTBMU. Go here for the full story.
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The U.S. Forest Service reports a wild land firefighter died Saturday night after being struck by tree in a remote area in the Lake Tahoe area. The following is from Forest Service spokesman Stanton Florea:

UPDATE 7PM: Looks like the heavy bands of thunderstorms have moved out of the area. The latest radar image above taken shortly before 7 p.m. shows a few light showers in the region.
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A band of thunderstorms began moving into the Carson City area late this afternoon. According to the National Weather Service in Reno, the thunderstorms will likely produce rain and multiple lightning strikes. There are no watches or warnings at this time.

Increasing moisture and instability will bring a chance for thunderstorms Friday through Monday, mainly near the Sierra and in far western Nevada, according to the National Weather Service in Reno. Gusty outflow winds and lightning are main concerns for Friday, with locally heavy rain possible this weekend.

You can look forward to all kinds of serious problems for the rest of this year and well beyond 2015 due to our prolonged drought.

Thunderstorms are expected to develop again today, especially along and east of Highway 395. Strong to severe storms are possible but the heavier storms may spare the Carson City area, according to the National Weather Service.

The main threats are frequent lightning, local flooding, hail, and strong outflow winds. The timeframe for storms is between now and 2 p.m. for the Sierra, Lake Tahoe, Carson City and Reno areas, with low to medium confidence there will be strong storms, according to the weather service.

Four remote mountain peaks in central and northeastern Nevada are home to a new real-time camera fire-detection system that is helping to protect Nevada’s forests and rangelands.

A Bureau of Land Management Nevada grant awarded to the University of Nevada, Reno to develop, install, and maintain a remote camera system, is in the initial phase of a five-year planned comprehensive network to cover vast areas of the state for early fire detection and response.

A home in Silver Springs was destroyed by fire Wednesday and one person is in custody. Lyon County Sheriff’s Office arrested Susan McInnes in Silver Springs on Wednesday for first degree arson. Her bail is set at $40,000.

According to Central Lyon County Fire District Battalion Chief Mark Darragh, units responded to the fire called into dispatch at 3:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of Fifth Street.

A home in Silver Springs was destroyed by fire Wednesday. According to Central Lyon County Fire District Battalion Chief Mark Darragh, units responded to the fire called into dispatch at 3:45 p.m. in the 1400 block of Fifth Street.

The fire was fully involved by the time engines arrived, with 90 percent of the 1,500-square-foot structure already consumed. The fire was extinguished without incident and there were no injuries, said Darragh.

UPDATE 1:43PM: The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for Carson City, Carson Valley, Alpine County, and Southern Washoe County. Go here for details.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for western Carson City, Douglas County and the South Lake Tahoe, Stateline areas.

At 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, Doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph. This storm was located over South Lake Tahoe and moving north at 20 mph.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of July 8, 2015 and beyond.

The Flash Flood Warning for the Carson City and Dayton areas has expired. A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect until 9 p.m. tonight.
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A Flash Flood Warning is in effect until 4 p.m. for Carson City, north central Douglas County and Lyon County. This includes Dayton, Johnson Lane, Indian Hills, the Carson City Airport, Stewart Indian School, Highway 50 through Carson City and Dayton, Rawe Peak and Dayton Valley Airpark, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Cooler summer weather along with isolated to scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms are expected throughout the week for the Sierra and Carson City region as low pressure off the California coast continues to pull moisture north into the Great Basin, according to the National Weather Service.

The Washington Fire in Alpine County, which began June 19 as a lightning strike and briefly threatened the town of Markleeville, is 94 percent contained with full containment expected soon, fire officials said.

Lightning over Dayton

A big warm up will once again take place this week with high temperatures in the 95-110 degree range in western Nevada and in the 85-95 degree range in the Sierra Tuesday through Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Most of the fires are single-tree fires with some ground fire, and the largest is only a half-acre in size. Winds are calm, and the Lake Tahoe Basin received substantial rainfall in the area of the fire starts, so the rate of spread is low. The Forest Service is staffing all nine fires with the assistance of Tahoe-Douglas and North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection Districts.

East Fork Fire Protection District reports that all six fires that were reported Saturday are at 1-acre or less in size and, have been extinguished or have crews on scene mopping up the fires as of Sunday morning. The crews have orders for full extinguishment, said Sgt. Pat Brooks of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

Concerns are the potential for new fires starts due to the multiple lighting strikes that occurred during Saturday's storm that pushed through the valley.