Planes take off at 8 a.m. today to search for Steve Fossett, the famed aviator who took off in a Citabria Super Decathon on Labor Day and failed to return. Four dozen aircraft have searched a radius of 50 miles around Barron Hilton's Flying M Ranch turning up one false alarm. The search has crews probing the depth of Walker Lake. Meanwhile tips continue to roll in from those folks looking at satellite photos or who just have a feeling where Fossett may have gone.
On Sunday, I quoted Public information officer Kim Toulouse saying Mono Lake is only 8-12 feet deep. While the quote is accurate, the depth is not. According to monolake.org, the maximum depth is 159 feet with an average depth of 57 feet. Walker Lake's maximum depth is 86 feet. Also it's important to stress that the 50 nautical mile radius for Sunday's search did not preclude searching the rest of the 17,000 square mile search area. Maj. Cynthia Ryan said it's just an attempt to increase the probability of detection.
Today's weather should be sunny and clear with a high temperature of 84 degrees. The low tonight will drop to 44 degrees. The National Weather Service is predicting a possibility of thunderstorms toward the end of the week. While the smoke plume program on the Web doesn't appear to be working, the ones in my head are indicating it will be smoky.
