thunderstorm

A Red Flag Warning in effect Tuesday for the northern Sierra Front including Carson City, Douglas, Storey, Southern Washoe, Western Lyon and southern Lassen counties. Also, poor air quality has returned as winds have shifted, again bringing more drift smoke from California fires into the northern Nevada region.

With the threat of thunderstorms creating new fire starts, a Red Flag Warning has been issued Sunday evening into Monday morning by the National Weather Service for Carson City, the Lake Tahoe Basin and throughout the entire Northern Nevada region.

A Heat Advisory issued by the National Weather Service for the Carson City area and many valleys of western and west-central Nevada was extended through Wednesday night as the entire region experiences typical yet extremely hot August temperatures, dry conditions, afternoon thunderstorms and the ongoing threat of wildfires.

Hot dry weather along with isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms ahead have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag fire weather warning and a heat advisory for the Carson City area and throughout northern Nevada.

Gusty winds, low humidity and the threat of thunderstorms have prompted the National Weather Service in Reno to issue a Fire Weather Watch for Carson City, Carson Valley and much of the Northern Sierra Front beginning Tuesday afternoon and extending into Wednesday evening.

Another round of strong thunderstorms are expected to pass through the Lake Tahoe, Carson City and western Nevada region Wednesday, bringing with them a risk of lightning generated wild land fire starts, gusty winds, rain, hail and flash flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

UPDATE 4:39PM: A Flash Flood Warning was issued at 4:28 p.m. for Douglas and Lyon counties and Carson City. Also, firefighters are responding to a number of wild land fire starts in Douglas County. Go here for updates on the fire situation.
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Strong to potentially severe thunderstorms are possible through 9 p.m. Tuesday across the eastern Sierra, western Nevada and Carson City region, according to the National Weather Service.

As it has been over the past few days, showers and thunderstorms have developed Monday afternoon over the Sierra, with an increased chance of storms expected to impact much of the region though the evening, according to the National Weather Service. The stronger of the storms will be capable of producing heavy rain, hail, and winds in excess of 40 mph.

Another round of thunderstorms began to move into the Sierra from the south on Sunday afternoon. A National Weather Service forecaster noted the storms could enter into the valley areas of western Nevada into early evening, bringing with them the potential for heavy rain, hail and wind.

Thunderstorms have begun to move into the Sierra and western Nevada region Thursday afternoon, bringing with them lightning, periods of heavy rain and a risk of flash flooding and debris flows in recent wild land fire burn areas.

Sierra Front Team 1 and assigned units made good progress Saturday on the Monarch Fire burning in the Pine Nut Mountains east of Gardnerville, Nev. The Monarch Fire was reported at 12:41 p.m. on June 24, 2020, and is burning three miles south of Sierra Spirit Ranch in Douglas County.

As of Friday morning, the Monarch Fire in Douglas County near Fish Springs and Pine Nut Road is covering a total of 2,500 acres.

With thunderstorms developing well to the south of Carson City earlier this afternoon, the National Weather Service is advising storms remain a possibility in the region into Thursday evening.

UPDATE 3:39PM: The Monarch Fire is approximately 2,500 acres and currently 5 percent contained. No structures are immediately threatened at this time and the fire is believed to be lightning caused from the previous day. Responding agencies include East Fork, Central Lyon, North Lake Tahoe, North Lyon, Story County, Tahoe Douglas and Truckee Meadows Fire Protection Districts, Reno Fire Department, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service.
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As of 9:45 a.m. Thursday morning, the fire in the Pine Nuts in Douglas County, which has been named the Monarch Fire, now covers a total of 1,794 acres.

Multiple agencies are on scene to try and control the fire which is thought to have been caused by a lightning strike during yesterday’s thunderstorm.

Isolated thunderstorms are possible again Wednesday afternoon in the Sierra and western Nevada region, according to the National Weather Service.

Near record high temperatures will continue through Friday with afternoon thunderstorms possible, especially around the Reno and Lake Tahoe areas, according to the National Weather Service.

After seasonal weather over the past few weeks brought periods of gusty wind, some valley showers and a few inches of snow to the Sierra, the Carson City region will be riding into a late spring heat wave this week, with daytime temperatures hot enough to force on those cooling fans and air conditioners.

Gusty winds and a slight chance of showers arriving Friday will turn to abundant sunshine and a gradual warm up around the Carson City area and Lake Tahoe region through Memorial Day weekend and beyond, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service is tracking a series of strong thunderstorms throughout the region Thursday afternoon. Doppler radar shows thunderstorms developing north into Washoe County and south of US-50 and east of the Sierra and Tahoe Basin.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Low pressure approaching northeast California and western Nevada will bring another chance for showers and thunderstorms today, with a few showers or storms possibly lingering into Friday. Dry weather and below average temperatures are expected for the weekend with gusty winds Friday and Saturday.
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The National Weather Service in Reno says thunderstorms have begun to Wednesday afternoon, mainly near and east of US-395 and south of I-80.

UPDATE 518PM: The fire burning south of Dayton is on BLM property. Readers say the fire appears to be growing and wind may be fueling it. We will update as information is made available from the BLM. Here's the latest messaging from Central Lyon County Fire:

According to the National Weather Service, father winter must have been given a bonus this year because more snow is scheduled to fall in the mountains, and thunderstorms are expected throughout the region, prompting a special weather alert announcement warning to take precautions if out on any bodies of water.

Easterly winds of more than 20 mph in the Stagecoach Valley blew across the dry lake bed near Break-A-Heart Road and created a haboob for Churchill Estates, and the Dayton and Stagecoach areas on Thursday afternoon.

RENO — A destructive fire-generated vortex — a massive stream of rising, spinning, smoke, ash and fire — that topped out at 17,000 feet above the earth, accelerated the Carr fire that killed eight people and devastated a widespread area in the Redding, Calif., region in July 2018.

The vortex, a little-observed atmospheric phenomena, was spinning with the power of a class three tornado, which earned it the name of Firenado.

Smoke from California wildfires and a few thunderstorms are possible Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and early evening, mainly in the Sierra into portions of the western Nevada Sierra front, according to the National Weather Service.

A severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect for Western Carson City until 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening, the National Weather Service in Reno reports.

UPDATE: 4:45PM: At 4:05 p.m. Saturday, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 10 miles southwest of Gardnerville, moving north at 10 mph. Dime size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm. Brief heavy rain is also possible with this storm. Outflow winds could reach as far northwest as South Lake Tahoe.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle.
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Thunderstorms will develop across the region over the next few hours with a few strong thunderstorms likely by mid-afternoon, according to a report from the National Weather Service in Reno.

The summer heat will settle into the Carson City region this week, with daytime temperatures in the upper 90s to 100 or higher Monday through Wednesday in the capital city and Carson Valley and 100-plus in Dayton and Virginia City, according to the National Weather Service.

UPDATE: 7:05PM: Power appears to have been restored to customers in Carson City and the Carson Valley, according to the NV Energy outage map at nvenergy.com.
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A power outage affecting around 8,100 NV Energy customers occurred at around 5:38 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the Carson City and Carson Valley areas just as a strong thunderstorm cell was moving through the region.

The seasonably hot weather continues this week with a weather pattern change that may bring thunderstorms to the Carson City region, and along with that, the danger of lightning strikes, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Fire Weather Watch.