NV Energy workers soar over the Minden Post Office in bucket trucks as they replace a pole and transformer that was taken out by a neighboring tree.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
There’s a possibility in the forecast of another stormy weekend, though it’s unlikely residents will see anything quite like the high winds that scoured Carson Valley on Sunday and Monday.
“Brace yourselves for more weather whiplash as the next spring storm approaches the Sierra and Western Nevada,” said National Weather Service Reno Meteorologist Edan Weishahn on Wednesday morning. “Best to plan for increasing winds, valley rain showers, mountain snow and colder temperatures. The first round arrives on Saturday with precipitation spreading across much of northeast California and Western Nevada by midday Saturday.”
Weishahn said that strong west and northwest winds might be the primary hazard on Saturday, shifting north on Sunday.
Winds aren’t anticipated to pick up until late in the morning on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Peak gusts are forecast to around 35 mph gusts before the precipitation arrives.
That’s no where near the 70-80 mph gusts that arrived on Mother’s Day and Monday.
One thing the winds brought with them was a battalion of tree trimmers and workers helping to clear up the damage from strong winds that affected nearly 7,500 NV Energy customers in Carson Valley on Monday and resulted in closing Scarselli and Meneley elementary schools in the Gardnerville Ranchos for the day.
After ramping up on Mother’s Day, Ma Nature brought the heat 6:40 a.m. Monday with an 81 mph gust on Highway 88 between Mottsville and Centerville Lanes.
Wind speeds were well into the 70s both before and after the big gust, bringing a burst of reports that wires and trees were down.
In one instance, a motorist reported the windshield of their vehicle was broken by a hay bale around 5:45 a.m. Monday. The Pulse Point app recorded almost a dozen reports of wires down and electrical emergencies across the Valley from around 4:30 a.m. to noon.
East Fork firefighters responded to a report of an arcing transformer at 4:36 a.m. Not long after the first reported outages, the National Weather Service extended a wind advisory another 12 hours to 5 p.m. Monday.
Fallen trees blocked Waterloo and Mono lanes on Monday morning, with East Fork firefighters cutting up the one on Waterloo. Power company workers made sure the tree that fell into power lines on Mono was de-energized.
Out on Purple Sage, what looked like a trampoline ended up stuck in a tree. Firefighters took a look at it but determined it was stuck and turned the issue over to the homeowner. A tree in Gardnerville near Village Way and Elges Avenue fell on a shed in the backyard. A home off Centerville Lane reportedly had tree branches fall on the roof and into power lines around 9:40 a.m.
The Schat’s Bakery in Minden was one of the 123 homes and businesses in the county seat without power.
Power company workers had the alley next to the Minden Post Office shut down while they replaced a power pole and transformer affectd by a tree.
A blustery Mother’s Day prompted a wind advisory. Gusts in Carson Valley topped out at 61 mph 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Sheridan Acres.
“I recorded a 51 mph gust so far at 3:43 p.m.,” Fredericksburg resident Jeff Garvin said on Sunday. “Small leaves and small branches are being ripped from some of the trees.”
After a near record high temperature of 84 degrees on Saturday, the front brought temperatures down to near freezing early Tuesday.