The R-C Morning Report

A 9-acre brush fire on the Neddenriep Ranch just over the border in Alpine County was quickly extinguished on Tuesday. Reports from the scene were that the fire was more smoke than flame in fairly wet vegetation. However, the fire may be a harbinger of things to come for fire season after a particularly dry winter. Volunteers from Sheridan and Genoa joined Alpine County and East Fork firefighters in responding to the 2:05 p.m. blaze.

Speaking of dry, the National Weather Service updated its precipitation tables on Wednesday and the news is not good. Minden has recorded 5.13 inches of precipitation since the Oct. 1 beginning of the water year or 66 percent of normal. Up on the mountain, February made a little bit of a dent in the overall dismally dry picture, with Blue Lakes receiving 129 percent of average moisture during the month. That brought it up to 43 percent of the water year normal total after three of the typically wettest months. A short water year means ranchers will have to start pumping ground water to irrigate their fields earlier, ultimately affecting the amount of recharge in the Carson Valley aquifer where our drinking water comes from.

The Carson Valley Museum & Cultural Center continues its lecture series with amateur archaeologist and author Dennis Cassinelli speaking about the Great Basin's prehistoric population. The lecture is at 7 p.m.

I hear the Carson Valley Community Theatre's "Blackjack Bottom" is down to its last tickets for performances this weekend. There are dinner shows Friday and Saturday and a matinee on March 25. While the odds of finding a ticket in the Carson Valley Inn Gift Shop are better than hitting the California Lottery, they're still not very good.

It's going to be breezy today and Friday, with highs in the 60s and lows in 30s. It sprinkled a little bit on Wednesday, but not enough to make any difference. The winds will be picking up today at 5-14 mph with gusts of up to 21 mph. The forecast shows no moisture whatsoever in the coming week.