Fossett found: The R-C Morning Report

Several news outlets are reporting that searchers may have found the wreckage of the Bellanca Citabria millionaire aviator Steve Fossett was flying when he disappeared last year. The search occurred in the wake of a Mammoth Lakes hiker finding identification and money along a trail west in the Minarets, located in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, south of Yosemite. When Fossett disappeared Sept. 3, 2007, the search concentrated on Nevada and the area north and east of Yosemite based on a witness statement a ranchhand spotted the aircraft at 11 a.m. just a few miles south of the Flying M Ranch in Lyon County. The search was the most thorough ever conducted in Nevada history and turned up a half-dozen old plane wrecks, but no sign of Fossett or the plane.

Searchers planning on recovering the wreckage of Fossett's aircraft have very short window in which to do it before a storm arrives in the Sierra. Winds will definitely pick up today with gusts of up to 35 mph in the afternoon. Winds 15-20 mph will continue to blow through the night and increase to 40 mph by Friday afternoon. If we get any moisture out of this storm, it will hit after midnight on Friday. The real fun will be up in the passes, where the snow level could drop below 7,000 feet.

If you've got plants you want to protect, now is the time to do it. The Weather Service is predicting a widespread freeze Saturday through Monday nights. Also it's a good time to batten down the patio furniture to keep it from wandering off in the wind.