Gusty wind prompts fire weather watch for the Greater Lake Tahoe area this weekend
The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a fire weather watch alert across the Lake Tahoe Basin and Northern Sierra for gusty wind Saturday afternoon and dry vegetation that could allow a wildfire to rapidly grow in size and intensity.
The weather service on Thursday afternoon issued the alert, which goes into effect from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday. The dangerous weather conditions are expected to last about six to nine hours.
Southeast wind at 15 to 25 mph, with gusts of 35 to 45 mph, are expected, according to the weather service. Forecasters also said it’s possible there will be gusts of 50 to 70 mph for wind prone or exposed areas and ridge locations.
The weather service said humidity was expected to be 20% to 35%.
“Even though humidity will be above criteria, the winds will be gusty enough to efficiently spread fire, especially with very dry fuel conditions,” according to the fire weather watch alert.
The combination of these conditions can cause a wildfire to rapidly spread before firefighters can contain the blaze, the weather service said.
The alert was issued for the Greater Lake Tahoe area, along with Carson City, and Douglas and Storey counties in Nevada. The fire weather watch also was issued for southern Washoe County, western Lyon County and the southern end of Lassen County, along with the Southern Sierra including Alpine, northern Mono, southern Lyon and western Mineral counties.
The weather service cautioned residents to avoid outdoor activities that could spark a fire near dry vegetation, such as yard work, target shooting or campfires. Residents also were urged to follow local fire restrictions.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 3:35 PM.
