Red flag warning issued for Labor Day

A red flag warning has been issued for 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Labor Day for forecast gusty winds and low humidity.

The warning covers the entire Sierra front north of Mono Lake and into northern Nevada and California to the Oregon and Idaho border.

Humidities in Minden are expected to drop to 10-15 percent on Monday and 20-25 percent in the Tahoe Basin.

Winds gusting 30-40 mph will help spread any fires ignited by sparks from things as varied as dragging fire chains, outdoor work, driving over dry grass, in addition to campfires that haven’t been fully extinguished or target shooting.

An upper air cyclone has arrived at the northern California Coast and is projected to come ashore in the California or Oregon coast tonight, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

That’s going to drive south to southwesterly winds with dry conditions.

A cold front is expected to bring blustery conditions through the afternoon and evening on Monday with ridgetop winds of 50-70 mph.

The winds have also prompted a lake wind advisory and blowing dust in the deserts.

A shift in the wind cleared out dust that reduced visibility on Sunday morning to 3 miles at 8:15 a.m., according to Minden-Tahoe Airport’s automated weather observation system. As of 4:20 p.m. Sunday, fire.airnow.gov showed quality had improved from 47 at noon down to 19, all in the good range.

But that same shift may bring smoke north from the Coffee Pot Fire in Sequoia National Park. Satellite mapping shows the fire at around 14,000 acres burning 180 miles southeast of Carson Valley.

Caused by lightning on Aug. 3, firefighters have a line around 13 percent. On Sunday afternoon, firefighters said they expected smoke to reach Mammoth.