Flooding

It's been raining and snowing a lot in western Nevada and while everyone can appreciate the value of water in the spring and summer, it's been a helluva ride.

In December 2018, I moved out to the Dayton Valley Road ranchos, a beautiful rural residential area that lies between the magnificent Pine Nut mountains to the south and the vibrant Carson River to the north.

A significant storm will impact western Nevada Friday through Sunday morning with gusty winds and rain, according to the National Weather Service. The weather pattern will remain active through the first week of 2023 with cold storms an potential for snow accumulations on valley floors.

Douglas County and the State of Nevada is hosting an in person educational event to inform citizens on flood preparation on November 17, 2020 from 3-4:30pm in the Ranch View Room of the Douglas County Community and Senior Center.

Scattered showers and fast moving thunderstorms have developed Monday afternoon around Carson City, Carson Valley in Douglas County and along some portions of the Sierra front.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Lake Tahoe is the vacation destination for millions of people annually, but recent behaviors by some visitors have several residents on edge. Trash is being left behind on beaches, trails and picnic areas, overflowing trash containers, which are shown up daily on social media pages, along with packed stores and clogged roads.

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.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — After much discussion and deliberation, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has made the difficult decision to cancel planned interpretive programs and visitor services at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center through the end of October, including second- and third-grade conservation education field trips. In addition, we have made the decision to cancel the Fall Fish Festival this year, an event that typically draws up to 12,000 visitors over the weekend.

CARSON CITY — Single lane closures will take place on U.S. 50 between Carson City and Spooner summit beginning July 30 as the Nevada Department of Transportation wraps up a project to reduce roadside erosion and help preserve water quality.

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.

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.

The potential of afternoon and evening thunderstorms around the Carson City region and much of western Nevada has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Fire Weather Watch as well as raise concern for the potential for flash flooding near recent wildfire areas.

MINDEN — Douglas County officials are informing residents near the Numbers Fire area to be aware for potential flooding. The National Weather Service in Reno has outlined the potential for thunderstorms in the burn area of the Numbers Fire for Wednesday, July 15 and Thursday, July 16, with the potential for flooding the rest of the week in the Fish Springs and Ruhenstroth areas.

CARSON CITY — Local non-profit greenUP! is proud to announce its participation in Plastic Free July, an international awareness month focused on the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution. greenUP! will be sharing Plastic-Free challenges each Wednesday of the month, and they invite the community to join them.

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.

While Lakeview residents in Carson City may be used to deer and the occasional bear, they were in for a new surprise visit from a flock of fire fighting sheep Friday evening.

According to resident Wade Olds, the neighbors believed the shepherd had fallen asleep and his flock ran away, something straight out of a nursery rhyme.

Continued warming of temperatures over the next few days and into next week will likely produce increased river flows throughout Western Nevada, Sierra and Carson Valley regions, according to the National Weather Service, though flooding is not anticipated.

Mary “Aileen” Forman’s job as a blackjack dealer at the Aquarius casino in Laughlin was put on indefinite hold as soon as widespread casino shutdowns were announced last month.

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation will open a new Unemployment Insurance call center Wednesday, April 15, 2020 to help assist claimants with general questions related to the unemployment insurance filing process.

About 700 additional Nevada National Guard Soldiers and Airmen will enter the fight against COVID-19 this week, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Tuesday.

On February 28, NV Energy filed its Natural Disaster Protection Plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada per Senate Bill 329, that outlines how the company plans to help protect the public from the impacts of natural disasters on its electric infrastructure that have been experienced in other Western states.

A strong cold front will blast through the Carson City, Lake Tahoe and the Sierra regions Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The Empire Ranch Trail between Riverview Park and Morgan Mill in Carson City is temporarily closed during reconstruction; the trail was damaged during flooding in 2017.

A 50-year-old flooding issue in a Carson City neighborhood could finally see a solution with the “North Carson Area Drainage Plan” proposed by Carson City Public Works.

According to Robert Fellows, P.E., Chief Stormwater Engineer for Public Works, an issue involving flooding or “ponding” in a particular Carson City neighborhood has been on the books as an issue since Carson City was still Ormsby County, going back to the 1970s.

Heading into the middle of the month, we're all deserving of a high five. You can give an entire family a big cheer Thursday by donating a turkey at the annual Carson City High Five Turkey Drive hosted by FISH at Carson City Nissan. Stop by, bring a turkey and give a local family in need a happy Thanksgiving. Other events around the capital city include a Nevada Peace Officer Standards and Training graduation ceremony, a talk about earthquake preparedness hosted by Carson City Native and Newcomers Club, a Muscle Powered afternoon hike and more.

Explore potential projects intended to reduce flooding in areas north of Hwy 50 East from North Carson Street east to Mound House.

If you live in or around the capital region on Nevada Day, you know all too well how chaotic Carson City can become, with tens of thousands of people flooding in to celebrate the anniversary of Nevada Statehood. This year however, this well-loved Nevada tradition made its debut around the world, courtesy of the National Grassroots Broadcasting Network.

A trough pushing moisture into the West Coast will bring a chance of widespread showers and thunderstorms to the Carson City region Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

A chance of afternoon thunderstorms and low humidity has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag fire weather warning Wednesday for the Carson City region, western Nevada and eastern Sierra.

UPDATE 730PM: The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for Douglas County in western Nevada and Alpine County in Calif. Thunderstorms producing heavy rain were reported across the Carson Range west of Foothill Road. Flash flooding is expected. Rock slides, debris flows are possible. The warning is until 8:30 p.m.
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