9-21-2020 9:38 AM Good morning, here in the Eastern Sierra we are still experiencing smoke in moderate to very unhealthy levels.

Both the Creek Fire and the Castle fire have had flare-ups over the last couple days so the smoke has increased a bit. Let’s hope and pray that this is not the case for the rest of the week.

Taking a look at the current conditions up at the top of Mammoth Mountain, the temperature at 9 AM is 46 with WSW winds at 36 MPH with gusts to 44 MPH, humidity is at 36%. Down at Main Lodge, the temperature is at 55 with light winds humidity is at18%.

In Mammoth Lakes, the temperature is sitting at 58 with the air quality at an AQI of 168. Down in Bishop at this time it’s a cool 64 with the air quality at an AQI of 296.

The Creek Fire is still burning SW of Mammoth Lakes and is about 15 miles away when we got updated this morning.

There are fire crews in town and stationed down at Reds Meadows in case the situation changes. If you’re a local or in town. I would have an escape plan in place in case things change on the Creek Fire or any new local fires start to get out of control.

On top of the Creek Fire, we have also been getting smoke at times from the Castle Fire that is burning well SSE of Mammoth Lakes. That fire continues to put out large amounts of smoke at times. You can see the current Air Quality at this link from the Air Now site.

Inyo National Forest Now Closed: With the extreme fire danger and so many fires in the western US now, the USFS has closed the Inyo National Forest until the Extreme Fire Dangers have subsided. The closure is being revisited on a daily basis, as of now it has been extended until September 24th.

What this closure means is the Mountain Bike Park is now closed for the season along with the Scenic Gondola Rides. Also closed is the Mammoth Lakes Basin, all hiking trails, all Mountain Bike Trails, all Forest Roads, Firewood Gathering, Campgrounds, and Dispersed Camping.

I am in direct contact with the Forest Service daily so has they send in updates I will post them right up for you.

Eastern Sierra and Mammoth Weather: Here is the basic forecast for now…

For Mammoth Lakes Highs will be in the upper 60s to low 70s with overnight lows into the 30s to low 40s. Expect a southwest wind @ 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon with wind gust up to 20-30 MPH.

For Bishop, highs will be in the upper 80s to low 90s starting with nighttime lows in the mid-50s.

The Long Range Outlook shows more of the same dry weather, for now, let’s hope there is a change soon.

Snowman out…(Next Update at Noon today)