high winds

Here's an annual reminder of a special event at this time of the year! The Davis Lake area, just north of Portola, California has some spectacular displays of colorful wildflowers blooming at the present time.

UPDATE 8:05PM: State Route 207 Kingsbury Grade is now open to motorist with controls. Please use caution around firefighters and equipment that remain working the fire.
Fire personnel will remain on scene to gain further containment of this fire. The cause of this fire is still under investigation.

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An area of low pressure moving into the Pacific Northwest will increase winds today throughout the Carson City region, producing gusts of 35 to 45 mph from late this morning and into this evening, according to the National Weather Service.

UPDATE 9:35AM: NV Energy reports power being restored after Sunday's wind storm knocked trees into power lines and homes. Spokesman Karl Walquist said all circuits are operating after crews worked through the night. Walquist said all but maybe be one or two homes are without power.

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UPDATE 9:30PM: About 2,000 NV Energy customers remain without power Sunday night after high winds battered Carson City during a thunderstorm, snapping trees into power lines and homes.

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 May 30.

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 May 8-14:

Here is the fishing report for the week of May 1-7 for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra.

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:
Water conditions are spring-perfect!
Due to the recent weather, most fish have been eating at night, pushing back the best time to go fishing on the lake. Most reports indicate that time is somewhere around 10:00AM.

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 April 24. Opening Day for most stream and lake fishing in California is Saturday.

Here is the weekly fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This report is for the week of April 17-24. Opening Day for California stream fishing is Saturday, April 27.

Elaine and I spent March 28-April 07 on a fun-filled, springtime return to Southern California for several reasons:
1. To celebrate our 11th Wedding Anniversary (March 30).
2. To visit my cousin Lorraine Scholes and her husband Bob, who have a winter home in Indio.
3. To attend our first-ever "Palm Springs Follies" show in Palm Springs.
4. To fly from Indio to Big Bear (our first-ever visit there).

Here are some of the highlights of our return to Southern California:

Thursday, March 28:

UPDATED 6:22PM: High winds blowing into Carson City knocked down trees and cut power Wednesday to several places throughout town, including Carson Middle School where a downed line started a small brush fire.

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 Feb. 6-12.

Gusty winds should arrive in Carson City and the valleys of western Nevada Sunday night prompting the National Weather Service in Reno to issue a High Wind Watch.

Winds will increase with a period of strong winds possible through the night and early Monday morning.

Southwest winds are expected to be 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph to 70 mph or more in the foothills and wind prone areas along Highway 395 from Carson City to Susanville and Surprise Valley, according to the weather service.

Below is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, Lake Tahoe and the Sierra. This report is for the week of Dec. 12-18. We want to note a big fish caught by Eric St. Denis of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., pictured above.

Eric caught a 28-pound, 9-ounce Mackinaw trout at Lake Tahoe on Dec. 9, at 10:30 a.m. Photos courtesy of Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters.

UPDATE 4:10PM to reflect new video weather briefing: Damaging wind, heavy rain and the potential of minor flooding are possible for the Carson City region as a series of strong winter storms push through California into western Nevada.
Ahead of the systems will be high winds, which has prompted the National Weather Service in Reno to issue a High Wind Warning through 4 p.m. Friday.

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 Sept. 26 through Oct. 2.

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 August 29 to Sept. 4.

The National Weather Service in Reno reports a Red Flag Warning within Carson City and other areas of Northern and Western Nevada. This warning indicates that critical fire conditions may occur because of the harsh lightening that will follow up during tonight’s weather, along with light showers. The affected area for this kind of danger is within the west central portion of the Nevada Basin and range. The unstable weather is expected to last through Saturday.

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 June 13-20.

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California and the Sierra. This fishing report is for the week of May 30 to June 5, 2012.

The TRE Fire burning in south Douglas County has grown to 7,500 acres, and is 15 percent contained, officials report Thursday.
The fire continues to burn in the hills to the north and east of the Topaz Ranch Estates residential area. Two homes and 17 structures were destroyed. No additional homes or structures have burned or are in immediate threat. The area in and around the fire is under a red flag warning to 11 p.m. Thursday due to high winds and relatively low humidity.

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 May 16-22, 2012.

Three of us (Don Hettrick, Bob “Slick” McCulloch and I) are back, safe and sound in Carson City after being contestants in the 16th annual Topaz Lake invitational fishing derby, which is sponsored by John Riordan.
That derby was held on Sunday-Monday-Tuesday, April 22-23-24, and it attracted some 70 fishermen from Nevada and California.
This year for the first time in history, the derby had a brand new fish category (bass) in addition to the regular trout category.
When the smoke and dust cleared after three days of fishing by all of the contestants, these were the 2012 winners:

Elaine and I just returned home from a special way to celebrate a special occasion. March 30 was our 10th wedding anniversary and we had wanted to do something out of the ordinary for that event.

When we were married 10 years ago, we took a 19 day honeymoon in Southeast Asia, which included Hong Kong, China; Singapore, Malaysia; Bangkok, Thailand; and the last eight days at Bali, Indonesia.

Most interesting, we took my new mother-in-law, Mary Bottoms, with us!
I bet that very few of you took your mother-in-law on your honeymoon!

Trooper Chuck Allen from the Nevada Highway Patrol reports that in spite the combination of very high winds and snow in Washoe Valley, only three accidents were reported.

He released this statement:

It only comes once every four years, Leap Day. And today we get high winds and snow. Joe Childs from CarsonWeather.com said he recorded an 83 mph gust at 9:45 this morning.

With the coming snowstorm in this season of drought, I'm sure there are some of you out there (like me) who were looking forward to hitting the slopes today. By chance, there are $29 Leap Day specials at Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and Diamond Peak. However, the wind has closed the upper mountain areas. The Leap Day curse.

Here is the fishing report through Jan. 31. The report covers rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and Southern Oregon.

At a 9 a.m. press conference, officials reported the blaze is 50 percent contained, and that 700 firefighters are working to extinguish hot spots in advance of the high winds that are forecast for this afternoon.

See map of fire area

Here is the latest from Washoe County on evacuations. Go here as this list is being updated.

UPDATE 510PM: Fire burns more than 3,000 acres with zero containment; 4,000 evacuated; no count on home and structure losses.

At 4:40 pm this afternoon, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, under his constitutional and statutory authority, made a state declaration of emergency which qualifies local governments for federal assistance associated with this event. The National Guard is on standby at the request of Sandoval and Washoe County. California has also provided fire assistance as part of a Governor to Governor agreement with Jerry Brown. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been and are being affected by this fire,” Sandoval said. “Declaring a state of emergency ensures that every resource from the local, state and federal level is available to assist. The Nevada Division of Forestry and the Department of Public Safety have also engaged with local responders.” Additionally, Nevada has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG). As a result, Nevada is eligible for up to 75 percent funding assistance for eligible costs. The request was made by the Nevada Division of Forestry on behalf of Washoe County at the onset of the fire.

More below the fold.