Gusty winds Monday prompt Red Flag Warning for Carson City, surrounding counties
UPDATE: Gusty winds and low humidity forecasted has prompted the National Weather Service to upgrade its fire weather watch to a Red Flag Warning for Carson City, Lake Tahoe and surrounding counties.
The Red Flag Warning is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and is for Lake Tahoe and the Northern Sierra Front including Carson City, Douglas, Storey, Washoe and western Lyon counties in Nevada and southern Lassen County in California.
NWS meteorologists advise winds will be out of the southwest, 15 to 25 mph with gusts from 30 to 40 mph. Humidity will be between 9 and 15 percent.
According to the latest NWS weather discussion, Monday will bring widespread gusty winds beginning in the morning and continuing during the afternoon and early evening.
"Ridge top wind gusts will increase to 50-70 mph early Monday morning and remain elevated well into Tuesday morning before subsiding, according to the discussion. "Wind impacts include several hours of critical fire weather conditions, choppy waters on area lakes with wave heights of 3-4 feet, bumpy arrivals/departures at regional airports, and blowing dust/reduced visibilities near playas for the Labor Day holiday. Additionally, models suggest the potential for showers and thunderstorms once again along and east of US-95 during the afternoon, however confidence is low on westward extent of convection."
The combination of gusty winds and low humidity can cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity before first responders can contain them.
The weather service advises people to limit outdoor activities that can cause a spark near dry vegetation, such as yard work, target shooting, or campfires and to follow local fire restrictions. Check weather.gov/reno for updates and livingwithfire.info for preparedness tips.
Temperatures for Carson City, Carson Valley and Dayton areas will be around 90 on Sunday, mid-80s Monday, mid to upper 80s Tuesday and Wednesday and the around 90 on Thursday.
For the Lake Tahoe Basin, temperatures will be in the upper 70s Sunday, lower 70s Monday, mid-70s Tuesday, with upper 70s Wednesday and Thursday.