TRUCKEE, Calif. — The multi-day storm is on its way out of the Lake Tahoe Basin, the Mosquito Fire is about halfway contained and the first weekend of fall is expected to be sunny and warm.

Lake Tahoe and much of the state received a nice rinse-off over the past few days which has helped firefighters reach 49% containment of the Mosquito Fire as of Wednesday morning. The fire burning near Oxbow Reservoir east of Foresthill in both El Dorado and Placer counties, has consumed 76,290 acres with no growth overnight. Cal Fire officials said fire behavior Tuesday night was minimal — consisting primarily of smoldering — due to three consecutive days of precipitation.

At one time more than 11,000 people were evacuated from their homes but now just 42 are left waiting to return. Personnel fighting the blaze has decreased by about 1,000 over the last two days with 2,437 still in the battle. Total structures destroyed remains at 78 with another 13 damaged.

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The smoke that was impacting air quality at Truckee-Tahoe on and off since the fire sparked on Sept. 6 are not expected to return according to the National Weather Service forecast.

The service is expecting rain showers and a chance of thunderstorms in the region at least through the morning. 

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“Showers and thunderstorms can be expected this morning, with increased chances again this afternoon,” the service said in a statement. “Fast storm motions will help to mitigate flash flood risks. Generally, rainfall accumulations will be a few hundredths up to a few tenths of an inch, but localized areas could pick up to 0.5 inches. Light slushy snow is possible on area passes above 8,500 feet including Mt. Rose Highway. Thunderstorms may also produce accumulating small hail at any elevation. Either of these may cause brief travel issues.”

The expected high will reach into the upper 50s and drop to just above freezing overnight.

Truckee has freezing fog in the forecast after 11 p.m. and before 9 a.m. Thursday.

The temps start going up on Thursday with a high expected near 70 and rising to the high 70s for the weekend.