Smoke coming from California fire

The smoky haze that hung over Carson City on Tuesday came from a 42,000-acre fire burning an hour northeast of Sacramento.

A change in wind direction from southwest to east pushed the smoke into Eagle and Carson valleys Monday night, said Weather Service specialist Rudy Cruz. Once the smoke settled, the winds died down and caused little change to visibility throughout the day.

The Plumas fire, burning in the Plumas National Forest, was 66 percent contained Tuesday.

"The winds were favorable for this type of movement," Cruz said. "Last week those southwest winds were blowing away from us."

The National Weather Service predicts the wind direction will change today, and by Thursday the sky should be clear. On Thursday, upper elevation winds are expected to blow even harder. Tuesday's stagnant winds measured 5 to 10 mph.

Scattered thundershowers were predicted for Tuesday night in Northern Nevada.

In other fire-related news, four Nevada counties were declared disaster areas Tuesday and made eligible for low-interest loans for fire reparation.

The federal request, filed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, was tentatively approved by Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said he received Glickman's assurances that relief is forthcoming.

"I am very pleased that the secretary understands the urgent need for assistance to those who have been impacted by fire damage," Bryan said. "The declaration will provide the ranching community the assistance they require to aid in their recovery from yet another terrible season of an unusually high number of wildfires."

This year an estimated 600,000 acres have burned in Nevada. Last year, a record high 1.6 million acres burned.

The disaster aid will be designated for Elko, Lander, Eureka and Humboldt counties.

With the aid, ranchers will be able to reseed areas and replace or relocate cattle. Interested recipients should contact their local Farm Service Agency. Other affected counties may be added to the disaster list.