Chilly last day of summer in forecast

In the last two weeks, Carson Valley went from record high temperatures around 100 to 10-20 degrees below average.

Wednesday’s low temperature is forecast to be 35 degrees in Minden and may be colder in parts of Carson Valley as residents scramble to protect sensitive plants on the last night of summer.

Forecasters expect wet weather to move on by Thursday after leaving around a third of an inch of rain in places thanks to a low pressure system just off the coast of California.

A gauge a mile north of Genoa recorded .21 inches of rain on Tuesday morning, while Minden weather watcher Stan Kapler reported .1 inches. Slightly more than a half-inch of rain fell in Skyland at Lake Tahoe in the last 24 hours.

Rainfall totals were running 1-2 inches on the western slope of Sierra where a flash flood watch was in effect.

“We realize those amounts don’t sound like much, but to put it into a climatological perspective, this tends to be one of the driest times of the year for the region,” Reno Meteorologist Dawn Johnson said. “So, it’s significant for mid-late September and will certainly put a lid on fire season for the northern Sierra into northeast California for at least a little while.”

Smoke from the 76,290-acre Mosquito Fire poured into Carson Valley late last week resulting in cancelations across Western Nevada. A shift in the winds sent the smoke packing leaving Carson Valley residents to enjoy a nice weekend.

Wetter weather gave firefighters an opportunity to increase containment lines to around 40 percent on Monday as the fire slowed down.

Conditions are expected to warm back up in time for Candy Dance weekend in Genoa.

“By the weekend and early part of next week, highs look to reach 5-10 degrees above normal,” Johnson said. “A little weather whiplash. That’s transition season for you. In this forecaster’s opinion it’ll be a perfect time to enjoy the outdoors with warm days, seasonably cool nights, light winds and mostly clear skies.”

Five high temperature records in Minden were tied or broken in the first week of the month, peaking at 101 degrees on Sept. 5.