The Marines are landing at Minden Park this morning for breakfast. Organized by the Berger family for their Uncle Steve and his men who've been training in Hawthorne, it's supposed to be a surprise.
Looks like the chances we'll get some sort of moisture next week is improving, but it won't be snowing. Snow levels are expected to be above 7,500 feet at least. The National Weather Service is forecasting we could see several inches of rainfall in the Sierra and some Western Nevada valleys. There's the possibility of minor flooding in the lower elevations in the foothills. While rain may be likely, the wind will be a certainty.
The final National Weather Service report for the water year came out this morning. The Carson River basin is officially at 79 percent for the year after a very dry September. Upper elevations did much better than the Valleys with both Poison Flat and Ebbetts Pass hitting 95 percent of average. Spratt Creek hit 94 percent and Monitor Pass got 88 percent. Blue Lakes received 87 percent of average. Minden received 5.36 inches of moisture during the year, 64 percent of the 8.38 average.
A forest fire is burning in the timber on the south side of Slide Mountain. It's an acre and it's burning slowly, but there are two hand crews working on it. It started just after 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. There was what sounded like a controlled burn that flared up on the west side of the Valley on Thursday afternoon. Despite Sunday's snow here, it's still pretty dry, so be careful with fire.