The Owens Valley Radio Observatory is safe after being evacuated last week due to a fire east of Bishop.
Fire cameras above the site show no smoke, and a dusting of snow while satellite detection on the Fire Information for Resource Management System indicates no new hot spots in the last week
The last report from the California Department of Forestry indicated firefighters had a line more than halfway around a 4,136-acre. The Airport Fire also threatened two large research facilities located in the Owens Valley.
While hundreds of miles away from Carson Valley the blaze that more than tripled in size overnight in the dead of winter raised concerns about what may be in the cards for this summer.
The fire started around 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16 east of Bishop and reached 1,000 acres by 4:15 p.m. By the next morning the fire had reached 2,800 acres and was threatening 150 structures, including those in the Owens Valley Radio Observatory and the White Mountain Research Center.
Bishop and much of eastern California are in severe drought as of this week.
Two wet months last year reduced drought conditions in Western Nevada from extreme to moderate since Oct. 1, 2020, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
According to Natural Resources Conservation Service snow telemetry shows Monday’s storm bumped the Carson River Basin up at percent to an average 87 percent snow water equivalent.
Ebbetts Pass was at 69 percent as of midnight Tuesday with 8 inches. Carson Pass was at 74 percent at 17.4 inches, thanks to one of the three driest Januarys on record and a not much better first half to February.
While an inch of light dry snow fell in Minden on Tuesday, that has only amounted to a trace of moisture in February, and by extension, 2022.
The only February to record no moisture was 2013, with only traces recorded in 1964 and 1967. In the 116 years records have been kept in Minden there has never been a year when both January and February were completely dry.
To learn more about preparing for wildfires, visit the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension’s site www.livingwithfire.com
