forest fire

It’s dry up in Lake Tahoe.  Tahoe and all of the Sierras are looking and feeling like it hasn’t snowed since June, which is essentially hasn’t.  Grass is tall after the big spring last year, there is no snow coverage, relative humidity is low, and the winds are gonna be high.  All that comes together to create a Fire Weather Watch from Noaa.gov today.  We really aren’t used to Fire Weather Watches in January because….well because that never ever happens.

FIRE WEATHER WATCH for LAKE TAHOE:

.A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION SUNDAY. AHEAD OF
THIS FRONT GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY ALONG AND EAST
OF THE SIERRA. DRY MID LEVEL AIR MAY MIX DOWN INTO THESE AREAS
FROM EARLY SUNDAY THROUGH THE EVENING. THE COMBINATION OF DRY AIR
AND GUSTY WINDS WOULD PRODUCE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDTITIONS.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST TO WEST 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH
  POSSIBLE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

* HUMIDITY...MINIMUM VALUES 12 TO 18 PERCENT SUNDAY.

* IMPACTS...THE POTENTIAL COMBINATION OF GUSTY WINDS AND LOW
  HUMIDITY MAY CREATE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS.