lightning

NV Energy was able to restore power to much of Carson City and Douglas County overnight, following severe thunderstorms around the region with strikes and surges affecting transformers and stations.

As of 11 this morning there was one outage affecting 8 customers in Carson City and four outages affecting 20 customers in Douglas County. Nearly 12,000 customers were affected Saturday.

State Highway 4 through Markleeville, south over Ebbetts Pass, is now open for through traffic only. This comes after a day of progress for firefighters battling the Washington Fire in Alpine County. The Bureau of Land Management said that as of 9 a.m. Sunday firefighters had reached 37 percent containment, with the fire burning 17,697 acres.

Hot weather with lightning is expected to continue again Sunday for much of Western Nevada and Sierra, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

The 6,000 people attending the outdoor reggae festival Saturday night at the Hard Rock Lake Tahoe in Stateline were evacuated briefly because of lightning in the area.

Several strikes of lightning in the South Lake Tahoe area Saturday evening prompted the necessity to get the people out according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Marshal Eric Guevin. He said he was opening the venue back up as soon as the area was safe from strikes. As of 6:45 p.m. Saturday, the lightning was in the ridge area around Glenbrook.

UPDATE 10PM: As of 9:35 pm, crews are responding to the fires. Two fires have been reported above Jacks Valley, one above Autumn Hills, one above Job’s Peak Ranch and one near Fay Luther Canyon. The fires are going to be monitored through the night and will be addressed during the daylight hours.
No structures are in danger at this time, said Sgt. Pat Brooks of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
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Douglas County firefighters are responding to wildland fire reports in the Clear Creek and Jacks Valley areas, according to Carson City dispatch. A plume of smoking is seen in this photo rising off of the mountainside. Multiple lightning strikes have been reported in the Carson City, Carson Valley areas tonight.

UPDATE 10:09PM: NV Energy continues to report 114 outages in the Carson City area, affecting 3,413 customers as of 10:07 p.m. Douglas County has 105 outages, with 3,961 without power.
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UPDATE 8:27PM: NV Energy reports 114 outages in the Carson City area has affected 3,413 customers as of 8:26 p.m. In Douglas County there are 93 outages with 3,880 customers without power.
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UPDATE 7:25PM: NV Energy reports 114 outages in the Carson City area has affected 3,413 customers as of 7:25 p.m. In Douglas County there are 93 outages with 6,998 customers without power.
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UPDATE 6:38PM: NV Energy says there are 3,407 customers in Carson City and 7,244 customers in Douglas County without power.

UPDATE: A report at 4:33 p.m. from Carson City Fire department is that a single tree was smoking, presumably from a lightning strike, and that it doesn't appear to be spreading.
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UPDATE 4:22PM: According to Carson City dispatch the fire started by a lightning strike around the Prison Hill area. It is not spreading and local resources have been assigned to it.
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A brush fire was reported this afternoon near the Nevada National Guard complex, in the 2600 block of Fairview. Carson City fire crews are responding.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — The Washington Fire, located 3 miles south of Markleeville, California has burned 17,622 acres and is 29 percent contained as of Saturday morning. The primary objective of suppression efforts remains the protection of the community of Markleeville.

Thunderstorms are forecasted that could bring stronger winds and lightning, which could hamper firefighter’s efforts.

Carson City Fire Chief Bob Schreihans cautions residents and visitors about what he fears could be a “catastrophic fire season” after four consecutive years of severe drought.
With record-breaking temperatures, gusty winds and lightning anticipated for the next several days, residents should be prepared as well as visitors to the Carson City area, Schreihans said.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — Firefighters on the Washington Fire, 3 miles south of Markleeville, California continued to optimize lower wind conditions to increase containment.

Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports significant progress was made Thursday towards containing the western flank of the fire south of Markleeville. The fire, named after the Lady Washington Mine near the origination point, has burned 16,490 acres and is now 15 percent contained.

UPDATE 2:20PM: The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday for much of eastern Sierra and western Nevada in anticipation of thunderstorms and strong outflow winds.
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As record temperatures are anticipated for the region this weekend, moisture will begin to filter across the Sierra with isolated thunderstorms possible as early as Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno. Strong outflow winds and dry lightning strikes are possible with these storms Friday and Saturday.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — UPDATE 7:30 a.m., Thursday: Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports firefighters made progress for the second consecutive day Wednesday on the 17,205-acre Washington Fire eight miles south of Markleeville, Calif.

Firefighters upped the containment of the fire to 10 percent on the sixth day of suppression efforts. The primary tactical priority continues to be preventing the fire from reaching Markleeville. The next priorities are to contain the fire in the Wolf Creek and Monitor Pass areas.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — UPDATE 6:30 a.m.: Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch reports firefighters made progress Tuesday on the 16,553-acre Washington Fire eight miles south of Markleeville, Calif. Lighter winds and conditions more conducive to aggressive ground and air suppression helped crews contain five percent of the fire by the end of the day.

The National Weather Service advises that it is highly confident of a potentially historic heat wave beginning Thursday through at least Sunday, June 28. Residents and visitors can expect temperatures to reach high temperatures from 100 to 107, with the potential to tie or break all-time record highs throughout the region.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of June 10, 2015 and beyond.

Carson Now reader Mike Ramsden took a series of incredible photos of Tuesday's thunderstorm from Galena looking south. Click on each one to enlarge.

Photo submitted by Cunningham Photography. Go here for the website and here for the Facebook page.
Lyon County Manager Jeff Page reports that Public Works crews are working on water removal in high water areas.
Six Mile Canyon has been temporarily closed for debris removal.

This photo of a blast of lightning was taken off Occidental Drive this Tuesday evening in Dayton. Photo by Amber Elking.

A potent trough will approach the Sierra Tuesday bringing the potential for severe thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Storms are expected throughout the region with the strongest storms along the Highway 395 corridor from Bridgeport, Calif., to the Oregon border. The strongest storms will be capable of producing winds in excess of 60 mph, large hail over an inch in diameter, very frequent lightning and brief very heavy rates of rain or small hail.

Thunderstorms have begun to develop today around the Sierra that may head into the Carson City and Carson Valley areas by this afternoon, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Special Weather Statement.

Welcome to the weekend, Carson City! Get things started with ska/reggae band, Taking Root at Sassafras; some African-infused blues at the Brewery Arts Center with Peter Joseph Burtt; or Atomica at the Casino Fandango. The Spoke Bar and Grill is rocking with the Remains, and the Chaser Band is playing at the Westside Pour House.

FRIDAY:

• Memorial Day Specials at Empire Ranch Golf Course (free 18 holes with Military I.D.; free bucket of balls if wearing red, white, and blue; free draft beer if wearing camouflage)
• CCAI Exhibit: BRIC Art 5 at the BRIC: 108 E Proctor Street (8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm)

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. This report is from May 20 to May 27, 2015.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada and Northern California. This report is for the week of May 13 and beyond.

Start-Up! is weekly column on entrepreneurship, start-ups, technology and innovation, powered by the Adams Hub for Innovation.

Bands of showers and thunderstorms will make their way through the Sierra, Western Nevada and into Carson City, Carson Valley, Dayton and Virginia City areas by this afternoon, according to a National Weather Service special statement.

A thunderstorm has developed in Carson City this afternoon bringing rain, lightning and small hail to the area. As of 3 p.m. there were no National Weather Service advisories.
Today's forecast calls for the rain to continue, with an 80 percent chance of showers for Carson City and Carson Valley. There's a 30 percent chance of rain for Thursday and a slight chance of showers Friday and Saturday.
The rain is welcome given our drought conditions, but the lightning always leaves room for caution. Thus far there hasn't been any reports of lightning caused fires around Carson City.

We are into the first part of the month of April, winter is behind us, and the outlook is grim for the rest of the year due to our prolonged drought. Here are some things that are currently occurring and will probably occur:

Snow: Our Sierra Nevada snowpack is either non-existent or minimal at best. There are very few snowdrifts across higher elevation hiking trails. Deep snowfields and snowdrifts in the mountains are things of the past. The peaks are bare rather than smooth white with lots of snow.

It is said that the average person has a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery, but that’s nothing compared to Assemblyman Harvey Munford’s quest to get a proposal through the Legislature to allow a lottery to operate in Nevada....

Here is the Nevada and Northern California fishing report for the week of Dec. 17, 2014. Some pretty big fish, 18 to 20 pounders, are being caught at Pyramid Lake as you'll see in the above photographs.