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Winter weather coming, fire season not ending

Greyson Howard
Sierra Sun

The first winter weather system may be blowing in this weekend, but fire officials say it won’t be enough to bring the fire season to a close.

As a cooling trend progresses towards the weekend, Saturday could top out at 54 degrees and dip below freezing, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.

“There’s a chance of rain Friday night. Saturday will be mostly cloudy with a chance of snow at higher elevations,” said Jessica Kielhorn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “This is a winter-type system we see from the Pacific.”



But the estimated one-half inch of precipitation won’t be enough for residents and firefighters alike to let their guard down after a very dry summer, said Chelsea Fox with Calfire.

“What this system does for the fire season depends on how much rain we get and what weather follows,” Fox said. “But we’ve seen moderate size fires occur after an inch of rain on the east side of the Sierra.”



She said fuel moisture is still considered very dry for the area.

“We plan to keep the same staffing until we get at least two to three inches ” then we’ll evaluate the fuel moisture.”


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