Red flag warning issued for Monday

After seven solid days of temperatures of 95 degrees or warmer, a change in the weather is bringing cooler conditions but also increased fire danger.

A red flag warning has been issued for noon to 8 p.m. today by the National Weather Service in Reno as a front moves through Western Nevada.

“Today appears to be the last day of above-normal temperatures for at least the next week, with generally zonal flow currently prevailing

over the region,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Brittany Whitlam said on Monday morning. “This pattern will continue to support enhanced afternoon breezes today, with gusts to 20-30 mph expected areawide.”

West winds are forecast to increase to 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph in Minden today. Morning cloudiness should clear out some this afternoon as the winds pick up.

“Area lakes may experience choppy conditions this afternoon, so

exercise caution if you plan to take advantage of this pleasant

weekend weather on the water,” Whitlam said.

Monday afternoon could see similar conditions with gusty winds of up to 30 mph into the early evening.

Temperatures are forecast to cool into the mid-to-upper 80s on the other side of the front, according to the weather service.

Minden has only seen one high temperature below 90 degrees so far this August.

Last week saw five days in the Douglas County seat with temperatures of 97 degrees or warmer. None of those high temperatures were sufficient to set a new record, but a 61-degee low on Aug. 3 saw the warmest low temperature in Minden since 1906.

While warmer than average, August’s 95.8-degree maximum so far is well short of the record of 99.5 degrees set in 1978.

Forecasters said the amount of smoke in Western Nevada on Sunday will be similar to Saturday. According to fire.airnow.gov conditions in Carson Valley have remained clear since 10 p.m. Thursday’s peak of 161, well in the unhealthy range.

The 429,135-acre Park Fire burning near Chico increased by 327 acres, according to Sunday morning’s Incident Management Report from the National Interagency Coordination Center. Firefighters made progress in containment for the first time since Tuesday, with a line around 37 percent of the fire.

The 1,960-acre Crozier Fire, which produced most of the smoke on Thursday didn’t change in acreage overnight and is at 14 percent containment.