lightning

A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect through Friday evening for Carson City, Lyon, Storey, Douglas and southern Washoe counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Slow moving thunderstorms such as those that moved through the area Tuesday and Wednesday, are capable of producing heavy rainfall in a short amount of time.

UPDATE 440PM: Firefighters have contained the fire by 35 percent. Resources have managed to keep a hold of the fire. There were two small slop overs that are being held in place by helicopter and crew work.

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UPDATE 1020AM: All roads are now open. Residents can go back to their homes, however be alert and aware of the fire, and weather patterns in the area. The evacuation center at the Carson City Community Center is now closed. Animals can still be taken to Fuji Park.

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UPDATE 926AM: The Clear Creek fire remains at 300 acres, 25 percent contained as of 9 a.m., according to Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center. No injuries reported. Vista Grande to Golf Course Drive is only open to residents. Around 40 homes in Clear Creek subdivision are under voluntary evacuation. Residents can go to the Carson City Community Center. Animals can be taken to Fuji Park.

The weather seems to be favoring the firefighters battling the Clear Creek Fire today. According to CarsonWeather.com, winds are expected to be light, with humidity above 60 percent.

The northwest flank of the fire (the steep side on the south side of Clear Creek Canyon) is still active. As a precaution, structure engines are staging in the Jacks Valley and Clear Creek subdivisions.

A brush fire started just after 6:45 p.m. Wednesday night in the hills above Carson City between Jacks Valley Road and Clear Creek Road. Fire officials are calling it the Clear Creek Fire and it had burned 150 acres as of 9:45 p.m.

The area is not easily accessible. Hot Shots were dropped onto the hills nearby to fight the fire as well as drops from three air tankers and two helicopters. Hand crews will stay on the fire during the night.

The fire was started by lightning and the region saw dozens more strikes into the evening.

East Fork Fire and Paramedic District are currently in a unified command with Carson Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. The fire started from a lightning strike on Forest Service land. The fire quickly spread in the dry brush north of Jacks Valley Road and south of Clear Creek Road on a mountain side.

Fire crews quickly responded to the scene and air suppression was used until darkness. Hand Fire Crews will remain on scene fighting this fire through the night. Fire equipment will be staged in the neighbor surrounding the fire for residential structure protection if needed.

UPDATE 3 AM: Evacuation orders were instructed for Golf Club Drive, Jeffery Pine Lane to Old Clear Creek Road. There are about 20 to 30 homes in the area. Evacuees are urged to go to the Carson City Community Center. Animals can be sent to Fuji Park. The orders came down at around 1:45 a.m.

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Thunderstorms, some possibly quite heavy, are expected through at least 6 tonight in Carson City and Carson Valley, Dayton and Virginia City, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms will continue to develop late this afternoon from Reno south, producing moderate to heavy rain and gusty winds to 45 mph.

Travelers along Interstate 80, 580, and Highway 50, Highway 395, and State Route 431 and 341 may be impacted by heavy rain and gusty winds, according to the weather service.

UPDATE: Thunderstorms were developing this afternoon east of Dayton and north of Virginia City toward Reno, according to the National Weather Service.

At 4:05 p.m. the weather service issued a flash flood warning for north central Storey County and south central Washoe County. The storm was said to be producing torrential rainfall of three inches ore more in one hour, according to a weather service bulletin. The storm was located south of Interstate 80 near USA Parkway.

With expected triple digit heat, low humidity, gusty winds and possible thunderstorms ahead for Tuesday, a Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service.

The area extends from the greater Lake Tahoe area, Carson City, western Nevada Sierra front, from Mineral and Southern Lyon counties and runs from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

With July just around the corner, unless something dramatic and unforeseen happens in the future, 2014 has all the earmarks of being a very poor fishing summer because of our ongoing drought.

Our sparse Sierra Nevada snowpack from last winter is gone, the spring run-off was almost non-existent, and that is bad news for fishing this summer in our streams, creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs.

UPDATE: Help out a Carson City area nonprofit built on giving families a hand up and find some great bargains on fine jewelry and stones, clothing, art and more at a fundraiser this Saturday, June 14, at Thunder Canyon Country Club in Washoe Valley.

The Capital City Circles Initiatives will host "Gem of a Fundraiser" from 5:30 to 9 p.m. The Capital City Circles Initiative is a nonprofit community-based program that assists families living in poverty to achieve their goal of self-sufficiency through education, support networking and friendships with members in the community.

Here is the latest fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of June 4-10, 2014.

The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a Red Flag Warning for Monday. That warning indicates a high fire danger on the western Nevada Sierra front, including Carson City.

An upper level disturbance will move across the region today. This will bring isolated thunderstorms this afternoon initially along the Sierra Front and far northwest Nevada with activity moving quickly to the east across the basin and range during the evening. Some of these thunderstorms may produce dry lightning.

An approaching low pressure system has the potential to produce thunderstorms Monday through Wednesday with gusty outflow winds, small hail and isolated dry lightning strikes possible, according to the National Weather Service.

The storms will move in from the Sierra by early Monday afternoon and then shift east of Reno and Carson City by late afternoon. Breezy west winds will develop across western Nevada by Monday afternoon.

Thunderstorms are possible today with lightning, gusty winds, small hail, and locally heavy rain, according to the National Weather Service.

A low pressure system moving toward the southern California coast will push unstable air north, producing a chance for showers and thunderstorms over the Eastern Sierra and far western Nevada, according to the weather service. The storms will likely remain along and west of Highway 395 and south of Interstate 80.

While the short-term forecast shows a change this week from the overall stubborn pattern of warm and dry conditions over the region, the drought for this part of the far west is severe and unless we get a lot of snow in the coming few weeks, we're going to face much more serious issues this coming summer.

The Western Nevada College softball team will meet College of the Siskiyous of Weed, Calif., in a doubleheader scrimmage beginning at 1 p.m. Friday at Edmonds Sports Complex in Carson City. It is the only time WNC will play at home during the summer-fall scrimmage season.

“We are really excited to be back at home in front of our home crowd and having the weather we are having now,” Wentworth said. “It’s another JC team in the same situation as us, the getting-to-know phase. It will be interesting to see where we stand against another team.”

Carson City firefighters were called to the area of Old Clear Creek Road and Highway 50 Spooner Wednesday afternoon after a brush fire was touched off, possibly due to lightning strikes in the area.

The fire was reported at around 1:30 p.m. in the canyon about 2 miles from Highway 50 and the Douglas County line, according to fire spotters surveilling the area from the top of Spooner Summit.

Another round of thunderstorms will develop Wednesday afternoon and evening over much of western Nevada, northern Sierra and Carson City as low pressure moves north along the California coast, the National Weather Service in Reno reports. The region is under a flash flood watch.

Thunderstorms and the potential for heavy rain are in the forecast for Carson City and much of northern Nevada through at least Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Aug. 1-6.

Carson City can expect another scorcher Sunday after hitting 102 Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Strong high pressure will remain over western Nevada today, bringing very hot temperatures with new record highs possible. Highs across the western Nevada valleys will climb to 102 to 108, with highs of 85 to 95 in the Sierra. The anticipated high temperature for Sunday in Carson City is 103.

After a couple weeks of average summer temperatures, Carson City and Northern Nevada will likely experience another heat wave at the end of the week. Strong high pressure will build over eastern California and western Nevada Friday and persist through the weekend, the National Weather Service reports.

LAKE TAHOE — The possibility of Ernie Els and his part-time PGA Tour caddy, Dan Quinn, both winning their prominent golf tournaments on July 21 is a proposition bet in Nevada Sportsbooks this week.

Els will be defending his title at the 2013 British Open on the same weekend that Quinn, the former National Hockey League star, will be trying to repeat at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.

With our current long daylight hours, extremely hot weather, fierce afternoon thunder boomers, high winds, low humidity, and bone-dry vegetation, you need to be aware of the ever-increasing fire danger surrounding us.

Our countryside is a disaster waiting to happen, and it would only take a moment of carelessness, sparks from target shooting, illegal fireworks, a hot vehicle muffler on a dirt road, an abandoned campfire or a tossed cigarette to create a roaring inferno.

Fire officials report progress on the Bison Fire overnight, with plans Thursday to do continued work on hot spots and to begin the rehabbing process.

Voluntary evacuations for 78 homes were lifted Wednesday at around 6:30 p.m. The fire is 65 percent contained as of Thursday morning with the size of it being reduced to 24,136 acres at this time, said Lisa Ross, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management.

Below is the Thursday morning press briefing from the BLM:

With the Bison Fire reaching 65 percent containment by Wednesday afternoon, fire officials have notified the Lyon County Office of Emergency Management that it can lift the evacuation in Smith Valley.

The Incident Command Post has confirmed with Lyon County officials that it is safe for evacuees to return, said County Manager Jeff Page.

Firefighters worked the fire along a ridge above the evacuated homes early Wednesday. The weather forecast calls for evening thunderstorms and dry lightning, said BLM spokeswoman Dorothy Harvey.

UPDATE 8:21PM The Bison Fire has grown to 1300 acres, said Douglas County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Pat Brooks. No structures have been damaged. No injuries reported. Additional resources have been ordered to assist, however due to other fires in the region and the 4th of July festivities, firefighting resources have been stretched thin.

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Lightning caused a fire in the Pinenut Mountains east of Carson City.

Photo submitted by David Riske of the fire burning southeast of Carson City on BLM land. The fire is said to have burned about 50 to 70 acres as of around 9 p.m.

Carson City firefighters and crews from the Nevada Division of Forestry and the BLM are on the fire.

The fire is believed to have been caused by a lightning strike.