winds

Wind gusts that reached up to 150 mph last weekend knocked over power poles and toppled trees onto live electrical wires throught the Liberty Energy territory in Northern California.

“Basically, crews have been working non-stop since the first storm arrived on Friday,” according to Mike Smart, Liberty Utilities-CA President. “For the past four days, we’ve reset poles, restrung wire and even made repairs to another utility’s infrastructure because it affected our ability to serve our customers.”

Aided by rainfall, firefighters were taking control of a forest fire that destroyed about 40 homes in the Eastern Sierra near Mammoth Mountain.

Crews had the blaze about 65% contained by Sunday, nearly two days after a blaze whipped by winds tore into the towns of Swall Meadows and Paradise, with about 250 inhabitants. The towns are about 25 miles southeast of the Mammoth Mountain ski resort, near U.S. Highway 395.

The main problem now is more than four dozen downed power lines and damaged trees, making conditions too hazardous to lift mandatory evacuation orders in the area.

A strong storm advancing through the Lake Tahoe area is causing isolated outages for some of Nevada Energy and Liberty Utilities’ customers. With winds at 35-50 mph and much stronger gusts over the ridges, utility officials would like to remind customers of the following safety measures.

- Always treat low hanging and downed power lines as if they were energized.
- Call 911 or notify Liberty Utilities’ toll-free emergency number at 1-844-245-6868 if you see downed power lines or damaged electrical equipment.

7 p.m. update: South Tahoe Now carried a story written by KTVN News earlier today about the Tahoe Queen. They have printed a retraction as the Coast Guard and passenger's stories proved to be false:

2 News needs to make a correction to a story we first brought you early Thursday morning in regards to an incident involving the Lake Tahoe Queen, one of two tour boats that cruises Lake Tahoe.

A strong cold front will be pushing through the Sierra, Lake Tahoe area and northwest Nevada Monday night into Tuesday according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

There is a slight chance that snow showers could develop along the front, but confidence is low as this is not the type of system to bring significant snow.

The South Lake Tahoe Fire Department is looking for locals who'd like to help out during the time of large scale emergencies from winds, heavy snow, flooding, wildfire and avalanches.

STAT has been formed and that stands for South Tahoe Action Teams.

Teams of citizens will be given eight hours of training so they can help out when local resources are overwhelmed. After training they will be incorporated in the field with the SLTFD and other first responders during times of crisis.

This is the first program of its kind in the Tahoe Basin.

Despite the power outages and high winds in the South Shore, the Marriott Grand Residence Club was warm and cozy (with power!) on Thursday night, which made it the perfect first stop for TahoeChamber’s annual Winter Wine Walk Business After Hours Mixer (BAHM!). Nearly 100 guests began their tours at the Marriott Grand Residence Club with a taste from Crystal Basin Cellars before embarking on a tour to participating businesses. Each shop welcomed attendees with food, drinks and raffle prizes. It was a fun, blustery night that included great food, wine and friends.

There were several reports of visible smoke Thursday in areas around recent Lake Tahoe controlled burns, and there was more concern with the high winds.

The Forest Service has crews monitoring the locations, especially those near Spooner Summit and Sawmill Road.

At this time there are no burns out of control and with the expected rain and snow Thursday night and Friday morning, concerns should ease.

As of 12:30 p.m. today, Liberty Utilities reports that they are currently experiencing numerous outages related to high winds and, in some cases, trees falling into distribution power lines in both South Lake and North Lake Tahoe. Exact number of customers affected by these smaller outages is being determined.

However, we know that 8,800 Liberty customers in South Lake Tahoe have been affected by an outage involving our Meyers Substation which is, in part, fed by NV Energy.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard and high wind warning along with flood watch starting at 10 p.m. on Wednesday night.

"Significant snowfall" is expected to impact the Sierra with one to three feet of snow possible above 7,000 feet with up to 12 inches down to 6,000 feet. The storm is expected to have snow levels dropping to 5,000 feet Thursday night. The Weather Service says heavier precipitation bands may locally lower snow levels to lake level during the day on Thursday.

Snow is forecast to continue through Friday afternoon.

The public can get free firewood at the Wrights Lake Recreation Area on October 25-26 and November 1-2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Portions of the area inside the El Dorado National Forest will be open to the public for woodcutting on both weekends. Woodcutters will be issued a free permit on site.

“The Forest Service is looking forward to a safe and successful wood cutting event. Please help us clean up this popular recreation area,” stated Richard Thornburgh, Pacific Ranger District Ranger.

The Forest Service announced today that they are re-opening some popular recreation areas near the King Fire area. The Rubicon Jeep Trail, Wrights Lake, Desolation Wilderness and the east side of Ice House Road are now open to the public.

“Although fire crews have nearly contained the King Fire, it is still active, and there are a lot of firefighting resources still in the area,” said Laurence Crabtree, the USFS Forest Supervisor. “I intend to open more of the Forest to the public as soon as it is safe to do so.”

The TRPA, U.S. Forest Service and the California Public Utilities Commission have released a final environmental impact report on the proposed electrical system upgrade in North Lake Tahoe by Liberty Utilities.

The proposed 625 and 650 Electrical Line Upgrade Project would consist primarily of an upgrade of Liberty Energy's existing 625 and 650 electrical power lines and associated substations from 60 kilovolt to 120 kV, to allow the entire North Lake Tahoe Transmission System to operate at 120 kV.

9/28/14 10:00 p.m. update: 4,420 firefighters and support staff are still on the scene of the 97.099 acre King Fire which is now 89% contained.

After 4 days of precipitation with accumulations of 1-3 inches, fire spread has been halted, however heat remains in the heavier fuels and in the heavy duff sheltered from the rain under the dense timber canopy. As the weather turns warm and dry over the next several days, expect to see an increase in fire activity and smoke production; however spread potential is extremely low, doe to the successful suppression efforts.

9/8/14 6:45 p.m. update: The Meadow Fire in Yosemite grew considerably overnight and has burned about 2,582 acres so far. What started as a small fire after lightning on August 16 got out of control on Sunday.

According to Yosemite's website, it is burning within the Little Yosemite Valley on both sides of the Merced River. All trails in the area are closed. Earlier Monday, approximately 100 hikers and backpackers were evacuated from the fire area in LYV. The fire is burning in Yosemite Wilderness.

Volunteers are scouring Lake Tahoe beaches and waters, looking for fireworks remnants and other trash.

In response to the lawsuit filed after large amounts of fireworks debris was found on the beach at Pinewild last summer, local service clubs, employee groups and other volunteer teams formed by local agencies joined in beach clean up efforts.

The recent standoff at the last remaining ranch in Clark County, NV has been widely attributed to environmental protection around the endangered desert tortoise; with the right wing trying to pin the blame on Nevada Senator Harry Reid for his support of the recent Ivanpah solar plant which, generates 392 MW which powers Google servers (See Dana Loesch Radio for an example of the kind of coverage it gets http://danaloeschradio.com/the-real-story-of-the-bundy-ranch/ and http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/11/the-nevada-tortoise-war-is-a-right-wing-false-f/198860 for a Media Matters article deb

Lake Tahoe has been experiencing warmer than average temperatures since last week's storm which dropped a few feet of snow in the region. Saturday's high will be 57 with a low of 35. A 89% of precipitation tonight with 1 to 3 inches of snow expected. The forecast for Sunday is a high of 46 and a low of 22 with a passing morning shower before 10 am.

It will be a windy weekend. Winds Saturday at 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Saturday night, winds 25 mph to 30 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph. Sunday will be breezy, with a southwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph

A blast of winter is headed to South Lake Tahoe on Tuesday as a winter system from the Northwest hits the region. A strong cold front will move through the Sierra and Western Nevada late Monday night into Tuesday.

After winds delayed Friday’s initial opening day, Heavenly Mountain Resort opened for the 2013-2014 ski and ride season on Saturday, November 23. The resort opened the Gondola and Tamarack Express, accessing 14 acres and 1.5 miles of skiable terrain. The resort plans to open additional terrain this next week, conditions permitting.

Northstar California Resort also opened today, and Kirkwood Mountain Resort is slated to open on Monday, November 25, giving access to three Tahoe resorts leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. Sierra at Tahoe may join them, depending on conditions.

Have you been wondering where the snow is? Well, a little storm is on it's way to the region with a chance of snow tonight above lake level and then rain/snow mix through Wednesday night according to accuweather.com.

Here is the forecast:

Today: Partly cloudy. Highs 53. Southwest winds up to 8 mph increasing to 11 mph with gusts up to 16 mph.

Tonight: A weak Pacific frontal hits land tonight. Partly cloudy in the evening...then cloudy with a slight chance of rain and snow after midnight. Lows 34. Southwest winds 5 to 6 mph. Gusts up to 11 mph. Less then 1" of snow in forecast.

From the US National Weather Service in Reno:

The Rim Fire continues to affect South Lake Tahoe as winds change from the South/Southwest and bring smoke into the basin. Saturday's clear blue skies have now become grey, a combination of smoke and a weather system that will bring isolated thunderstorms to the region today.

Firefighters gained a lot of ground on the fire in the last 24 hours and now have it listed at 60% contained. The Rim Fire is now the 4th largest in California's history and the largest in the U.S. in 2013.

8/30/13 6:50 am update: South Lake Tahoe enjoyed a blue sky day on Thursday but smoke from fhe Rim Fire filled the basin by afternoon. A low pressure system moving in from the northwest may cause more smoke to make its way into the area today as winds are coming from the southwest. The Rim fire has now burned 201,894 acres and is now 32% contained. Firefighters will be constructing contingency lines in advance of the communities of Tuolumne City, Twain Harte, and Long Barn.