Lightning strikes region 191 times during two-day thunderstorm system
Tahoe Daily Tribune
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TRUCKEE/TAHOE, Calif. – Lightning struck the region 74 times Tuesday evening and 117 times Wednesday afternoon as the season’s first set of thunderstorms rolled through the area.
The thunderheads brought rain, hail and lighting to the eastern part of Tahoe National Forest, and stretched as far south as Mono County, staying generally east of the crest, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.
Wednesday’s storms started two small fires northeast of Sierra City, one contained and the other controlled as of Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
“We did have a couple of fire starts yesterday but because it rained on them they were contained,” said Dawn Fishler, a meteorologist with the weather service in Reno on Wednesday. “Because the storms were wet it hasn’t been as dangerous.”
Joanne Roubique, district ranger in the Truckee station of Tahoe National Forest, said no wildfires ignited from the Tuesday storm, but fire personnel are staying vigilant.
“Fuels are still relatively moist – it’s still possible something could show smoke in the next day or two – but we don’t expect anything dramatic,” Roubique said.
Sometimes lighting strikes in relatively wet conditions can smolder for days before building up enough heat to show smoke, Roubique said, so forest service fire prevention teams are out patrolling just in case, Roubique said.
Temperatures will see highs in the mid-80s and lows in the high 40s, Fishler said, with the possibility of temperatures rising into the 90s next week.
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