Lighting strikes signal start of fire season

Mother Nature finished what she started Saturday -- igniting a small brushfire east of Highway 50 in Lyon County, then dousing it with rain.

A black column of smoke was reported just after 6 p.m. east of Highway 50 in Lyon County. In about 10 minutes, when Central Lyon County Fire District and Bureau of Land Management fire crews reached the area near Churchill Butte, the rain had knocked the fire down and firefighters were unable to locate any smoke or flames.

They plan to send up aerial reconnaissance planes this morning, according to a dispatcher with the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center at Minden Airport.

Several small fires were reported in the region Saturday, the spokesperson said. None of them were believed to be burning at 9 p.m. Saturday.

A fire burned about one-tenth of an acre on 7,464-foot Dogskin Mountain east of Pyramid Lake. Volunteer firefighters from Redrock and Bureau of Land Management firefighters from Palomino and Doyle responded to the scene and were all released.

For today, expect thunderstorm activity to peak about noon, said Jim Fischer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno.

Winds gusting toward the west as high as 40 mph may accompany the thunderstorms followed by afternoon winds ranging from 15 mph to 25 mph.

The winds should push the storms off the Sierra Nevada to the east by late afternoon.

Afternoon highs should be about 91 with Monday morning lows in the mid 50s. Temperatures reached 92 in Carson City, two degrees below the record for the day set in 1978.

Kings Beach at the northwest end of Lake Tahoe reported 1/2-inch hail Saturday.