NV Energy workers in Genoa on Friday morning. A public safety outage watch is in effect in Nevada's oldest town starting 11 a.m. Monday.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Liberty Utilities shut off electricity to 686 customers in Markleeville, Woodfords and Hope Valley 8:15 a.m. Monday as a storm front rolled into the Eastern Sierra.
According to the company's website the outage could last up to 24 hours as workers check the lines to see if there was any damage.
A resource site will be open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Woodfords Community Center, 96 Washoe Blvd. for those who don't have an alternate power source.
A 50 mph wind gust was recorded at 8:50 a.m. in Woodfords Canyon with gusts exceeding 40 mph since 7:50 a.m.
Liberty crews are conducting safety inspections on power lines and electric infrastructure throughout the community.
“This is an essential action that must be completed before lifting the current Public Safety Power Shutoff and restoring power,” officials said.
Liberty expects to begin restoring power at approximately 5 p.m.
A public safety power outage watch for Veterans Day was canceled by NV Energy at 1:40 p.m. Monday.
“A watch means that weather criteria indicate NV Energy may need to proactively shut off power to prevent wildfires in your community,” according to an nvenergy.com post.
Forecasters are predicting gusty southwest winds of faster than 70 mph across the higher Sierra ridges, that will drop into the Carson Valley with gusts of more than 40 mph on Monday morning through the afternoon.
A lake wind advisory goes into effect in 10 p.m. today through 7 p.m.. Monday with 15-25 mph southwest winds, gusting to 40 mph and 2-4-foot waves on Lake Tahoe.
The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a winter weather advisory for the Greater Lake Tahoe area from noon to 10 p.m. Monday with 2-6 inches of snow predicted above 6,500 feet and winds of up to 45 mph.
“A storm system starts to move into northeast California on Monday morning, spreading south into the greater Reno-Tahoe area by mid-day, and then to the eastern Sierra in Mono County mid-afternoon into early evening,” said National Weather Service Reno Meteorologist Gigi Giralte on Sunday afternoon. “The bulk of the valley rain and mountain snow will fall near or during the afternoon commute for the Reno, Carson, Truckee and Tahoe area.”
Giralte predicted that rain and snow will have passed by 7-8 p.m. Monday in the fast moving storm.
“Prior to the precipitation, expect increased wind gusts with ridges exceeding 70 mph and valleys exceeding 40 mph,” Giralte said. “Additionally expect a 10-plus degree drop in temperatures from today to Monday.”
Once the storm clears another front is expected in Western Nevada on Wednesday.
“A brief lull in active weather midweek dissolves into a disorganized and, frankly, quite erratic series of storms late Wednesday and through the weekend,” she said.
