A hawk perches in a tree down in Topaz Ranch Estates thinking hawk thoughts. Photo special to The R-C by John Flaherty
Genoa, Nev. — With a three-day weekend and super warm temperatures, I expect the roads up top will be kind of a mess this weekend. A lot of folks from both sides of the Sierra will be heading into the mountains looking to cool off.
Haze from the Red and Rodgers fires burning in Yosemite is competing with the northern California fires for what’s interfering with our view in Carson Valley. The fire.airnow.gov sensors are in the green at around 14-30 in the Valley, so while there isn’t much, there is some.
We haven’t even entered the heat advisory yet and we’ve already seen a 17-year-old record high temperature tied for Sept. 1 at 98 degrees. If we hit the century mark in Minden today, that will tie a 72-year-old 100-degree record set during the 1950 heatwave.
The front-page headline in the Sept. 8, 1950, edition of The R-C read “September Opens With Hottest Weather Of Year.” The 102-degree record set Sept. 3, 1950, qualifies it for the hottest weather in 116 years, and I suspect it will survive this weekend, as well.
NV Energy officials are asking customers to limit their power use 5-8 p.m. in order to protect the grid. We know air-conditioners are going to be running, but maybe don’t also use the dishwasher, dryer or charge your electric car (I don’t know. It was on the list).
Expect sunny skies and a high of 98 degrees with the wind out of the south at 5-10 mph, shifting west 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph. Lows will be in the upper 50s, at least. There’s a chance we’ll see the heatwave break next Thursday, but these things do tend to linger.
Kurt Hildebrand is editor of The Record-Courier. Reach him at khildebrand@recordcourier.com or 775-782-5122.
