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The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Lake Tahoe area from 2:00 p.m. Wednesday to 8:00 p.m. Thursday.

Thunderstorms with potentially dangerous lightening strikes are forecast along with heavy rain and possible flash flooding.

A negatively tilted trough is setting the stage for a widespread outbreak of thunderstorms this afternoon through Thursday from the northern Sierra and far western Nevada to the Oregon border.

Thunderstorms remain a possibility each day through the middle of next week
starting today according to the National Weather Service in Reno. Storms this afternoon will again be mainly over the Sierra, potentially becoming more widespread this weekend into early next week but predictability remains about average. Flash flooding will become more of a threat late this weekend and into early next week. Temperatures through the weekend will remain above normal with weak afternoon breezes each afternoon.

The forecast from the National Weather Service in Reno:

Douglas County Board of Commissioners signed a Disaster Declaration today due to the lightning caused Preacher Fire which is burning seven miles southeast of Gardnerville.

The fire is currently estimated at 4,651 acres as of 6:00 p.m. on July 25. It is being managed at this time by Sierra Front Type 3 Incident Management Team (IMT) with support from East Fork Fire Protection District and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Residents of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado county, Fallen Leaf Lake and Alpine County are encouraged to take advantage of the free curbside chipping service offered by the Lake Valley Fire Protection District (LVFPD).

The free service will be offered through October, weather permitting.

Homeowners can work on their defensible space by removing limbs and slash on their property, then the chipping crew will come by and collect it, then convert into wood chips.

This action reduces flammable vegetation and helps homeowners protect their property from the threat of wildfire.

After a challenging winter and spring in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the summer season is upon us. Agencies around Lake Tahoe (U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, California State Parks, California and Nevada Departments of Wildlife) are reminding residents and visitors to practice proper food storage and trash disposal when living in, or visiting, bear country.

The watercraft inspection spots around Lake Tahoe once again proved their valuable service when a boat at the Alpine Meadows station was found to have quagga mussels on board May 14.

The boat was quarantined for several days and Tahoe Resource Conservation District staff performed multiple decontaminations to ensure all invasive species were removed before the boat was released to the owner.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board voted to increase prevention methods by requiring motorists towing boats to remove drain plugs from their watercraft after leaving the lake.

After the record-breaking winter we experienced in South Lake Tahoe, we also saw record-breaking amounts of litter throughout our community as the snow melted. On Saturday May 6th, 118 volunteers scoured South Tahoe neighborhoods to help clean it up and kick off the summer with a litter-free town. The groups covered fifteen different locations and gathered 1,484 pounds of trash and debris from our environment.

A temporary levee-like barrier has been placed along the East Fork of the Carson River near the Aspen Mobile Home Park in anticipation of flooding as the snow continues to melt in the Sierra.

Douglas County, Carson Valley Conservation District and the mobile home park worked together to get on a temporary fix called "TrapBag." 600 feet of these barriers were installed along the river.

The People's Climate Change March in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, April 29 will bring together families and community members concerned with protection of climate and the environment, beginning at Lakeview Commons at 10:00 a.m.

From the Commons, marchers will head over to Bijou Park for the local Earth Day celebration where presentations will take place.

4:15 p.m. update: Kingsbury Grade (State Route 207) will remain closed indefinitely on the Carson Valley side of the road as the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) continues safety evaluation and removal of major rockfall.

The highway was closed early Friday afternoon as NDOT and contractor Q&D Construction removed loose trees and earth from a roadside slope to help reduce rock and mud fall onto the highway. The slope had slid approximately one foot within the past 24 hours, posing the threat of bringing mud, rock and debris across the highway.

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The U.S. Coast Guard unloaded 22 tons of seized cocaine this week, six in San Diego, 16 in Florida. The wholesale value of the cocaine is about $577.5 million.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stratton offloaded the cocaine in San Diego during a media event Friday. Several cutters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean area seized the drugs mid-January through February.

The drugs were intercepted in international waters off the coast of Central and South America.

Pipe Keepers is a citizen science program to address the threat of stormwater pollution entering Lake Tahoe. Runoff from rain storms and snowmelt is the largest source of pollution that degrades Lake clarity. League staff will train you to survey local neighborhoods and collect stormwater samples during rain and snowmelt events.

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county. The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at time of story.

3/12

No Reports

3/13

12:43 p.m. - Petty Theft - Saddle Road

3/14

12:19 p.m. - Grand Theft - Highway 50 - IPHONE REPORTED STOLEN TO EDSO.

An undercover operation targeting human trafficking and prostitution in Placerville was conducted on March 3, resulting in several arrests.

Detectives from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office researched ads on dating websites regarding escorts, made contact with them via phone and set up dates at a local motel. During the operation six female escorts responded to the room, all from out of the area. Three were arrested and booked into jail, two were cited with a promise to appear and one was released to victim services.

A 12-year-old student was arrested on Thursday evening after making threats to bring a gun to Carson Valley Middle School on Friday February 17 and “shoot up the school.”

At 7:00 p.m. Thursday, February 16, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office received a call after a concerned parent intercepted the threatening message sent to their child. Deputies responded to the Indian Hills residence of the reporting party and met with the parent to examine the phone in which the threat was received.

Friday's board meeting of the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) was delayed almost two hours due to ice on the road near near Zephyr Cove, causing it to close, and those weren't the only icy conditions on the South Shore that day.

The other ice could be felt during the meeting as conflict of interest, ethics, integrity, suspicious actions and lack of transparency were the theme of the day.

All three items on the agenda Friday were placed there amid a stressed relationship between the City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and Patrick Wright, the Executive Director of the CTC.

South Lake Tahoe will be experiencing rain through Sunday, but forecasters say it will be replaced by snow later this evening.

The very dynamic and strong system passing over the Sierra also created some lightning and thunder overnight and on Sunday morning. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Reno told South Tahoe Now that it is very common with a strong storm like this to see lightening.

People from the Central Valley of California to the middle of Nevada felt several earthquakes overnight, with the two largest recorded at 5.7 magnitude, followed by 73 other tremblors between midnight and 9:30 a.m. December 28, 2016.

Late Friday night, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the U.S. Senate in passing the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016, which will bring $415 million in future funding to Lake Tahoe over the next seven years. The decision brought cheers from many local agencies, including the League to Save lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested by Washoe County Sheriff's deputies after the teen made over a dozen false reports to emergency dispatch.

Between November 12, 2016 and November 29, 2016, the Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center received calls from the Sun Valley area, including reports of mass murder, shoot-outs in the street, and a bomb threat to a local elementary school.

A heavily armed 37-year-old man was shot early Friday morning after keeping law enforcement personnel at bay for twenty hours in Cameron Park.

A 911 call about a possible domestic violence situation in an apartment on La Canada Drive was received by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office dispatch at 6:10 a.m. on Thursday, November 17. According to the reporting party, there was an armed man holding a woman and her baby against their will inside the apartment.

Pipe Keepers is a citizen science program to address the threat of stormwater pollution entering Lake Tahoe. Runoff from rain storms and snowmelt is the largest source of pollution that degrades Lake clarity. League staff will train you to survey local neighborhoods and collect stormwater samples during rain and snowmelt events. More info at keeptahoeblue.org/events.

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The South Lake Tahoe chapter of the Citizen's Climate Lobby recently asked all ten of the candidates their views on climate change, green buildings and our carbon footprint and how they can make a change if elected.

The Citizen's Climate Lobby is an organization focused on national policies to address climate change, and the South Lake Tahoe chapter is one of 354 in the United States and abroad.

Patricia Sussman of the local chapter said just five of the candidates responded to their questions.

UPDATE 1:00PM 10/15/16: The Little Valley Fire in Washoe Valley has now burned 3,460 acres with 5 percent containment. Four injuries due to smoke inhalation have been reported.

The Sierra Front Type III Incident Management Team reports that 22 residences and 17-outbuildings have been destroyed. 500 structures are still under threat.

Interstate 580 is open in both directions, as is old U.S. Highway 395. Franktown Road, the area where most of the home damage is, remains closed.