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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Kelseyville High School Civics teacher Shane Boehlert and his students are hosting a live-streamed Kelseyville Unified School Board Candidates Forum on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

The forum will take place beginning at 7 p.m. on the school district’s Facebook page.

Candidates for Kelseyville Unified School Board on the Nov. 3 ballot are Beniakem Cromwell, Natalie Higley, Mary Beth Mosko and Gilbert Rangel.

“We’ve been working on a lesson about civic engagement, and with the election coming up, I thought this would be a good opportunity for students to get more involved,” said Boehlert.

In preparation for the forum, Boehlert taught students about the role of school boards in local education.

He then encouraged his students to write questions that would help them (and the public) better understand why the candidates chose to run for office and what they hope to achieve.

“We invite everyone to join us,” Boehlert said.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Due to a strong and dry offshore wind event forecast for the weekend that has resulted in a red flag warning for much of Northern California, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it is planning a public safety power shutoff that could impact a small portion of Lake County’s population.

Due to high winds forecast from early Sunday morning through Monday, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning from Lake County and much of the region that’s in effect from 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, to 8 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28.

Officials said winds are forecasted to reach peak gusts of 35 to 50 miles per hour in the hills above 1,000 feet and low relative humidity values of 10 to 25 percent.

In response to the red flag warning, the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said it has increased its staffing on all available engines not already on the 25 major fires across the state.

PG&E said it’s continuing to monitor the wind event and, given the expected weather conditions, the company began its one-day advance notifications to customers in areas where it may need to proactively turn power off for safety to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines.

The potential public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, expected to start early Sunday morning, could impact approximately 97,000 customers in portions of 15 counties in the Northern Sierra and the northern Sacramento Valley.

PG&E said customers in portions of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Kern, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama and Yuba counties are being notified.

In Lake County, PG&E said it has notified 55 customers, two of them being medical baseline customers.

PG&E said late Friday afternoon that the anticipated scope and timing of this event has changed from earlier announcements, based on updated weather forecasts that showed stronger wind gusts in a larger portion of PG&E’s service area.

The company said its in-house meteorologists, as well as its Wildfire Safety Operation Center and Emergency Operations Center, continue to monitor conditions closely and additional notifications will be made on Friday to customers who may be impacted by this event.
Customers can look up their address online to find out if their location is being monitored for the potential safety shutoff at www.pge.com/pspsupdates or www.pge.com/pspszipcodealerts, PG&E reported.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Congressman Mike Thompson will hold another in his ongoing series of virtual town halls next week to discuss issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The virtual town hall will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1.

Thompson will be joined by special guest Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, for a discussion about the congressional response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This is the 15th in a series of virtual town halls Thompson has held since the spring. All constituents of California’s Fifth Congressional District and members of the press are invited to join.

This event will be held over Zoom and interested participants must email Thompson’s office in order to join, as the platform has a capacity of 500 people.

Interested participants will be notified via email with instructions on how to join.

The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live via Thompson’s page.

Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
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California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, State Parks Director Armando Quintero and Department of Transportation Director Toks Omishakin on Friday announced a series of actions to identify and redress discriminatory names of features attached to the State Parks and transportation systems.

Agencies also will expand representation and increase transparency around a state committee tasked with recommending changes to geographic names in California.

The moves come in the wake of a national conversation about the names of geographic features, markers and statues affiliated with the Civil War, genocide of Native Americans and other remnants of institutionalized discrimination.

Steps announced Friday dovetail with additional measures announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom to mark Native American Day in California following the governor’s formal apology to Native Americans last year.

“The governor fundamentally changed the way Californians grapple with the difficult beginnings of this state when he formally apologized to California Native Americans last June,” said Governor's Tribal Advisor and Executive Secretary to the Native American Heritage Commission Christina Snider.

“For California Native Americans who have survived generations of depredations against our very existence, these disparaging and dehumanizing names serve as a constant reminder that we were never intended to be part of the California dream,” Snider said. “The leadership of the California Natural Resources Agency and the Department of Transportation in furthering these corrective initiatives demonstrates the state's real commitment to act on the promise of the governor's apology, heal relationships and work to make historically dispossessed communities whole.”

Assembly Member James C. Ramos (D-Highland), the first California Native American elected to the state Legislature, welcomed the announcements.

“Ensuring that state facilities are respectful and inclusive of California’s history and all its people is a much-welcomed step,” Ramos said. “As a Native American, I look forward to the acknowledgement of our presence and culture as well as the education that will occur during a renaming process.”

Secretary Crowfoot said it is past time to revisit historic names that stem from a dark legacy that includes discrimination, violence and inequity.

“Recent protests over racial inequality have spurred a national conversation about institutional and systemic racism in the United States. That conversation includes a new reckoning over monuments, symbols and names found in our public spaces,” Secretary Crowfoot said. “We are committed to continuing this dialogue in an open and transparent way.”

Crowfoot is directing the Natural Resources Agency to expand the membership of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names by adding members designated by the Native American Heritage Commission, California State Library, California African American Museum and California Department of Transportation, as well as the legislative Selective Committee on Native American Affairs and Black, Latino and Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucuses.

At the same time, the California Department of Parks and Recreation has begun to inventory racist markers and names of features within the State Parks system.

State Parks is developing a process to assess the inventory and solicit input on potential name changes. State Parks also is refining plans in consultation with tribes and other groups to update interpretive signage, exhibits and educational materials for student programs.

“This is a generational moment that calls for the California Department of Parks and Recreation to take stock of and critically examine our state’s historical legacy,” Director Quintero said. “We want every Californian, whether they are first generation or the 500th generation, to feel welcome in parks and see stories shared by all voices.”

As part of Friday’s announcement, Caltrans will carry out a detailed review of all named assets located on the state transportation system and develop a proposal identifying those to be renamed or rescinded.

“Transportation is meant to bring people together, bridge divides, cross immovable boundaries and connect people from all walks of life,” Director Omishakin said. “Caltrans cannot accomplish this mission without addressing the specter of exclusionary, prejudiced place names located throughout the California State Highway system. While long overdue, the department is honored to stand with the Natural Resources Agency and help facilitate a new legacy celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion.”
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A new team took over management of the August Complex on Friday as fire crews prepared for a wind event expected to impact the fire area this week.

The US Forest Service said Friday that the August Complex increased by nearly 5,000 more acres, to a total of 867,335 acres. Containment rose slightly to 40 percent.

The lightning-caused complex has been burning since Aug. 17 and is anticipated to be fully contained on Nov. 15. It is burning on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests.

At 7 a.m. Friday, a Type 2 Incident Management Team from the Mendocino National Forest, under Incident Commander Curtis Coots as well as a National Incident Management Team team, assumed command of the South Zone of the August Complex, officials said.

The Forest Service said crews continue to make progress in the Pillsbury Lake area, mopping up after successful firing operations earlier in the week. In addition, crews are working on approved fireline locations in Elk Creek drainage and the Sanhedrin Wilderness to prevent further fire spread to the west.

In the Pillsbury Ranch and Lake Pillsbury basin areas of Lake County, mandatory evacuations remain in place. More information on evacuations across the fire area can be found here.

In advance of a significant change in the forecast for the upcoming weekend – including high winds that have resulted in the National Weather Service issuing a red flag warning for much of Northern California from Saturday night through Monday – firefighters worked on Thursday to improve control lines west and northwest of Lake Pillsbury near Sunset Gap, officials said.

The Forest Service said pumps, hose lays, and sprinklers have been installed and tested, and dozer lines are being improved for use in firing and holding operations that may be needed as weather conditions change.

The east side of the South Zone is fully contained, and is being patrolled with aircraft to ensure that any threats to control lines are identified, officials said.

Officials said residents and property owners may return to their properties within the Mendocino National Forest in Glenn County, but access to the Forest Service closure area for other purposes, including hunting and recreation, is prohibited. Properties accessed via a Forest System road may require a permit from the US Forest Service.

Please contact the Mendocino National Forest at 530-934-3316 for more information.

The August Complex as mapped on Friday, September 25, 2020. Map courtesy of the US Forest Service.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Five dogs are waiting at Clearlake Animal Control this week for new homes.

The following dogs are ready for adoption or foster.

“Bella.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Bella’

“Bella” is a female American Bully mix.

She has a short beige and tan coat.

She is dog No. 3537.

“Boog.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Boog’

“Boog” is a senior male American Bully mix with a short brown and white coat.

He is dog No. 4012.

“Brownie.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Brownie’

“Brownie” is a male Labrador Retriever mix with a short brown and dapple coat.

He is dog No. 4257.

“Jack.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Jack’

“Jack” is a male Labrador Retriever mix with a short yellow coat.

He is dog No. 4155.

“Lady.” Photo courtesy of Clearlake Animal Control.

‘Lady’

“Lady” is a female German Shepherd mix.

She has been spayed.

She is dog No. 3683.

The shelter is open by appointment only due to COVID-19.

Call the Clearlake Animal Control shelter at 707-273-9440, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.to inquire about adoptions and schedule a visit to the shelter.

Visit Clearlake Animal Control on Facebook or on the city’s website.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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Dennis Fordham. Courtesy photo.

People want their confidential information inside of their living trust to remain confidential.

However, after a trust is executed the settlors often find it necessary to disclose certain limited information in order to retitle assets into the trust, borrow money against trust assets and insure the trust as owner of real property.

Fortunately, third parties requesting information about the trust – like banks, insurance companies and brokerages – only ask for limited information. That is, is the trust revocable or irrevocable; who are the current trustees; what powers does the trustee have; how should trust assets be titled; what is the trust’s taxpayer identification number; and has the trust been amended? A trustee’s certification of trust provides all such information.

In California, section 18100.5 of the Probate Code provides that, “(a) The trustee may present a certification of trust to any person in lieu of providing a copy of the trust instrument to establish the existence or terms of the trust. A certification of trust may be executed by the trustee voluntarily or at the request of the person with whom the trustee is dealing.”

The certification must meet the following requirements: (1) say that the trust has not been revoked, modified, or amended in any manner which would cause the representations contained in the certification of trust to be incorrect; (2) be signed by all of the currently acting trustees of the trust; (3) have a notarial certificate acknowledging each trustee signature.

A certification of trust is helpful, or even required, when dealing with banks, stock transfer agents, brokerage houses, insurance companies, title companies, and other third parties.

Estate planning attorneys often provide one with the trust for the client to copy and provide to retitle and insure trust assets.

If a third party who receives a certification of trust still insists on copies of the trust document to verify its information then the person providing the certification may refuse.

If the matter becomes controversial and goes to court and the court determines that the third party acted in bad faith in requesting the trust documents (section 18100(h) Probate Code) then damages, including attorney’s fees can be awarded.

The initial certification of trust that you receive with your trust, however, becomes stale over time and must be updated. Each time you amend your trust you need a new certification of trust to reflect the amendment.

Even without amendments, an old certification of trust often is unacceptable to third parties seeking to rely on it. Clients call me saying that their bank needs a more recent certification of trust to refinance their home.

Sometimes a client needs to provide a portion (excerpt) of the trust providing information not typically found in a certification of trust.

For the excerpt to be acceptable, the trustee will need to provide a trustee’s certification of the abstract of trust. The certification, made under penalty of perjury under the laws of the state of California, says that the attached abstracted copy of said trust is a true and correct copy of the original trust as executed.

Lastly it is not always necessary to provide either the certification of trust or the abstract of trust. Some third parties are satisfied if the settlor provides them with a copy of the following pages from their trust: first page (title/declaration page), section listing the names of trustees, the signature (execution) page and the notary page.

Accordingly, ask whether this more simplified approach is acceptable. If not, anyone needing to provide a certification of trust by a trustee or a certification of abstract of trust by a trustee may consider calling an estate planning attorney for assistance.

Dennis A. Fordham, attorney, is a State Bar-Certified Specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law. His office is at 870 S. Main St., Lakeport, California. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 707-263-3235.
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From left, Lake County NAACP Chapter President Rick Mayo, Lake County Veterans Services Officer Saul Sanabria and NAACP Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Kenneth Bagsby following a ceremony in which Sanabria received the inaugural Veterans Patriot Award from the NAACP chapter on Thursday, September 24, 2020, in Lakeport, California. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Thursday afternoon, the Lake County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People presented its inaugural Veterans Patriot Award to a man who the group said works tirelessly to look out for the well-being of veterans.

In the brief ceremony in front of the Veterans Service Office in downtown Lakeport’s historic courthouse square, local NAACP President Rick Mayo and Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Kenneth Bagsby presented the newly created award to Saul Sanabria, Lake County’s veterans services officer.

On hand were dignitaries including Capt. David D. Smith, the NAACP’s state area director, Vallejo NAACP President Jimmy Jackson, Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin, Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White, Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall and Undersheriff Darren Brewster, NAACP Branch Secretary Hazel Deaner and Roger Sciutto, an NAACP life member and former Clearlake Police chief.

“This to me is invaluable,” said Sanabria in accepting the award from the NAACP.

He also noted his gratitude to the people who had traveled so far to see him honored.

This is the first veterans award that the Lake County NAACP chapter has ever given in its 37 years of existence, said Mayo, also a member of the NAACP’s Veterans Affairs Committee.

And if anyone deserved it, Mayo added, it’s Sanabria, himself a veteran.

“He’s helped a lot of veterans in the community,” Mayo, a Vietnam era veteran, told Lake County News.

For his part, Sanabria credited his two staffers – Nancy Mitchell and Denver Cortez – with support to make good things happen at his little office, which serves not just Lake, which has a large per-capita veterans population, but a total of 15 counties.

Sanabria has worked as a veterans services officer for about 20 years. The Board of Supervisors appointed Sanabria to head the Lake County Veterans Services Office beginning in July 2014. Since then, he’s been involved in efforts including the creation of the county’s veterans court.

He and his staff are always on the lookout for veterans because they want to make sure people who served their country are in turn getting the benefits they’ve earned and deserve.

Sanabria makes a point of being available to help veterans around the clock, seven days a week.

To contact the Veterans Services Office, call 707-263-2384, visit its website or email Sanabria directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The office is located at 284 N. Main St., Lakeport.

Mayo said the NAACP plans to offer the award once every 10 years.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local school districts are once again having to make adjustments as rising COVID-19 case numbers in Lake County could lead to greater state restrictions and further delay efforts to get all of the county’s schools back to in-person instruction.

On Tuesday, Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace delivered the news that Lake County’s surging case rate – now more than 100 new cases since the start of last week, for a total caseload of 530 by Wednesday – has moved the county into the purple tier, the most restrictive level of the state’s Blueprint for a Safe Economy, which looks at risk of community disease transmission.

Moving fully into that most restrictive purple tier – which Pace said could happen as early as next week if the growth in case numbers doesn’t start to slow – could result in the state requiring closure of indoor dining at restaurants, indoor movie theaters, force indoor church services back outdoors and prevent some schools from opening.

In August, Lucerne Elementary and Upper Lake Unified became the first two county school districts to open classes at the “stage 3” level of school reopening – a hybrid model that allowed for in-person instruction as well as distance learning, as Lake County News reported.

Pace said that increased state restrictions won’t close those two districts that already are open.

However, for the other four districts – Kelseyville, Konocti, Lakeport and Middletown – which started the 2020-21 school year with distance learning and plans to transition as soon as safe and feasible to the hybrid model, Pace said there could be further delays until the state moves Lake County back into a less-restrictive tier.

On Sept. 15, Middletown Unified Superintendent Michael Cox said his leadership team met to discuss and evaluate reopening schools, with the team to continue meeting every two weeks to determine when it’s “safe and appropriate” to return to classroom instruction.

On Sunday, Konocti Unified reported that its next steps include having its district leadership team review the data during the first week of October to determine the possibility of moving to the stage two hybrid model.

“The District will report our evaluation and decision by the end of the week, if a decision is made to move to Phase 2, we will provide parents, students, and staff two weeks to prepare for this shift,” Superintendent Becky Salato said in a statement on the district website.

In Kelseyville Unified, officials had initially hoped to open the school year earlier this month with students on campus but eventually chose to start the year with the distance learning model.

District Superintendent Dave McQueen said last week school officials were to meet on Friday to determine if they could meet the state guideline to begin moving to the hybrid learning model.

Following that Friday meeting, McQueen announced that Kelseyville’s schools would reopen classrooms to the hybrid model on Oct. 20 based on the county’s COVID-19 data, and the fact that schools have obtained the personal protective equipment required to keep students and staff as safe as possible.

However, in a Wednesday statement, McQueen said those plans to reopen in late October had been canceled after the Lake County Public Health Department notified the district earlier in the day that a Kelseyville High School student had tested positive for COVID-19.

He said contact tracing is underway, anyone at risk will be notified and the district will both coordinate with Public Health and follow the agency’s guidance. The district also is taking proper steps to sanitize Kelseyville High School daily.

“I know people need to get back to work and having young children at home makes that hard, but it simply isn't safe for students to return to the classroom at this time,” McQueen said.

As Kelseyville Unified prepared for the hybrid model, McQueen said several concerns surfaced, including the ability to maintain enough social distancing at schools and potential staffing shortages if people are exposed to COVID-19 and have to remain home for weeks at a time.

As a result, McQueen said that the district has decided that it won’t reopen schools for in-person instruction until Lake County’s COVID-19 transmission risk drops into the orange or moderate tier in the state’s blueprint, at which point students could return to classrooms five days a week with safety measures including masks, student desk partitions and screening.

Hours later, Kelseyville Unified’s action to postpone its in-person reopening was referenced at the Lakeport Unified School District Board, which held a special meeting – the second in two days – that included discussion of its efforts to get students back into the classroom.

Lakeport Unified Board considers survey results, hears teacher and parent concerns

On Tuesday night, the Lakeport Unified School Board held a discussion on its Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan, which Superintendent Jill Falconer said is a state-required framework for how districts manage distance and in-person instruction.

The school board approved that plan at Wednesday night’s special meeting after a lengthy discussion on the district’s plans for transition to the hybrid learning model.

Falconer said that when the board made the decision to go to distance learning, the goal was to go to the hybrid model as quickly and safely as possible.

Two weeks ago, before the spike in local case numbers, the district conducted two surveys – one for staff, one for families – asking about their experiences with distance learning and when they would like to return to hybrid learning. “We do have a good split on opinions on when is the time to transition to hybrid,” said Falconer.

Of 190 staff, 147 responded, with 43.6 percent wanting to start hybrid learning at the semester break on Jan. 4, 24.2 percent wanting to start as soon as possible, 17.4 percent wanting to start at the quarter break on Oct. 13 and 14.8 percent responding with an “other” option.”

For families – 461 members of 1,100 families responded – 39.9 percent wanted to return to hybrid learning as soon as possible, 27.3 percent wanted to wait until the Jan. 4 semester break and 9.3 percent said they would like to start on Oct. 13, at the start of the second quarter.

Falconer told the board that the work needed to finalize reopening – including site plans being completed by the different schools and notifying parents – could take five weeks to complete, putting an in-person reopening at Nov. 2.

That’s if, she cautioned, Lake County remains out of the state’s most restrictive purple tier on its Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Falconer also noted the concern that if there are more COVID-19 cases in the community, there could be an increase in staffers being exposed and requiring quarantine, which would limit the district’s ability to reopen.

“This is a fluid thing. Sometimes we take one step forward and two steps back. Sometimes we take two steps forward and one step back, and we try to be flexible and go with that flow,” Falconer said.

She said district officials are visiting the Lucerne and Upper Lake districts to see how their reopening is working and, on Friday morning, will be conducting the first voluntary COVID-19 surveillance testing for staff.

The district board heard concerns from Lakeport Elementary teacher Nichola Bronk, who said the district’s survey was very flawed because it only gave limited options on when parents wanted their children to return to school and that it was completed by less than half of the families in the district.

She said there was no option for saying that she doesn’t want her children to return to school until they have a vaccination and it’s safe.

Several other teachers also spoke, assuring everyone that they wanted to be back in class with their students.

“We are doing the best we can,” said Clear Lake High School teacher Cary Stillman, adding that the technology is not where it needs to be to serve teachers with distance learning. Stillman said the end goal should be to have children in class when it’s safe and healthy to do so.

Special education teacher Christian Dorn said distance learning is “nothing like it was” earlier this year, but a major issue for teachers remains how to do it effectively. “We’re just figuring it out right now.”

Fourth-grade teacher Lori Underwood said she was very concerned about reopening in the hybrid model due to recent case surges, pointing to the chance of exposure and evidence that children can carry the virus without any symptoms.

While teacher Catherine Dunne said it’s easiest to teach in person, “In circumstances like this, I think what’s safest has to prevail,” adding case increases in Lakeport are very concerning.

If cases continue to increase, there is a greater likelihood of teachers being quarantined or infected, which Dunne said leads to new problems, such as a lack of available teachers.

District nurse Diane Gunther pointed to case demographics released by the Lake County Public Health Department earlier this week that showed that 44 cases in Lake County have been reported in the 0 to 12 age group, with another 89 in the 12 to 24 age group.

Gunther said she is concerned that not enough testing is being done to know just how much of the virus is in the community.

She said we’re now entering flu season, which will cause people to be indoors more and, as a result, also will increase the risks of spread for both the flu and the coronavirus.

Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, Nichola Bronk was incorrectly identified as a parent in the district. She is, in fact, a teacher.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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This year’s Arctic sea ice cover shrank to the second-lowest extent since modern record-keeping began in the late 1970s.

An analysis of satellite data by NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, or NSIDC, at the University of Colorado, Boulder shows that the 2020 minimum extent, which was likely reached on Sept. 15, measured 1.44 million square miles.

In winter, frozen seawater covers almost the entire Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. This sea ice undergoes seasonal patterns of change – thinning and shrinking during late spring and summer, and thickening and expanding during fall and winter.

The extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic can impact local ecosystems, regional and global weather patterns, and ocean circulation. In the last two decades, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice in the summer has dropped markedly.

The lowest extent on record was set in 2012, and last year’s extent was tied for second – until this year’s.

A Siberian heat wave in spring 2020 began this year’s Arctic sea ice melt season early, and with Arctic temperatures being 14 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average, the ice extent kept declining.

The 2020 minimum extent was 958,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average of yearly minimum extents, and 2020 is only the second time on record that the minimum extent has fallen below 1.5 million square miles.

“It was just really warm in the Arctic this year, and the melt seasons have been starting earlier and earlier,” said Nathan Kurtz, a sea ice scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The earlier the melt season starts, the more ice you generally lose.”

Thin ice also melts quicker than thicker floes. Dramatic drops in sea ice extent in 2007 and 2012, along with generally declining summer extent, has led to fewer regions of thick, multi-year ice that has built up over multiple winters. In addition, a recent study showed that warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean, which is typically deep below the colder Arctic waters, is creeping up closer to the bottom of the sea ice and warming it from below.

There are cascading effects in the Arctic, said Mark Serreze, director of NSIDC. Warmer ocean temperatures eat away at the thicker multiyear ice, and also result in thinner ice to start the spring melt season.

Melt early in the season results in more open water, which absorbs heat from the Sun and increases water temperatures.

“As the sea ice cover extent declines, what we’re seeing is we’re continuing to lose that multiyear ice,” Serreze said. “The ice is shrinking in the summer, but it’s also getting thinner. You’re losing extent, and you’re losing the thick ice as well. It’s a double whammy.”

The second-lowest extent of sea ice on record is just one of many signs of a warming climate in the north, he said, pointing to the Siberian heat waves, forest fires, hotter-than-average temperatures over the Central Arctic, and the thawing permafrost that led to a Russian fuel spill.

Kate Ramsayer works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters have been conducting firing operations in their ongoing efforts to control the August Complex, the South Zone of which is set to be placed under a new management team on Friday.

The US Forest Service said the August Complex burned several thousand more acres by Thursday to reach a total of 862,733 acres across all three of its zones, with containment at 38 percent, down one percentage point from the previous day.

The lightning-caused complex has been burning since Aug. 17, beginning on the Mendocino National Forest and spreading into the Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests. It’s expected to be fully contained Nov. 15.

Officials said firefighters made significant progress on Wednesday, continuing to mop up where firing operations were finished on Tuesday north of Lake Pillsbury. Dozer line is complete from Soda Creek to Sunset Gap.

Crews continue working to increase containment in the area by identifying and removing trees that could fall across lines, locating and addressing smoldering vegetation adjacent to lines, and by making sure that lines near structures are secure, the Forest Service said.

Other crews are reinforcing dozer lines north and west of Pillsbury Ranch, installing and testing hose lays, pumps and sprinklers for use in holding operations.

In Lake County, mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect in the Pillsbury Ranch and Lake Pillsbury basin. More information on evacuations is available here.

Officials said management of the South Zone of the August Complex will be transitioning from the Type I Great Basin Incident Management Team 2, under Incident Commander Tony Demasters, to a Type 2 Incident Management Team as well as a National Incident Management Organization, or NIMO, team.

The Forest Service said the incoming Type 2 management team is from the Mendocino National Forest and led by Incident Commander Curtis Coots.

The Mendocino team will take over command of the incident on Friday, the Forest Service reported.

The Atlanta NIMO team is led by Incident Commander Mike Quisenberry and will provide further assistance in managing the fire, officials said.

The August Complex as mapped on Thursday, September 24, 2020. Map courtesy of the US Forest Service.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fall officially arrived this week, but rather than cooling off, Lake County is expected to see hot and dry conditions beginning this weekend.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook due to higher-than-average temperatures forecast for next week and a fire weather watch for the weekend and early next week.

The hazardous weather outlook predicts that temperatures will rise well above normal across the interior of northwest California from Saturday through Monday.

The fire weather watch is in effect from 8 p.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. Monday in elevations above 1,500 feet, especially in southeastern Lake County.

A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur. As such, forecasters urged area residents to listen for later forecasts and possible red flag warnings.

The forecast calls for north to northeast winds from 12 to 18 miles per hour with gusts of up to 25 miles per hour from Saturday night through Monday morning. Higher gusts are possible over the most exposed ridgetops.

Humidity will range from 10 to 20 percent in afternoons with overnight humidity from 20 to 40 percent.

The specific Lake County forecast calls for daytime highs in the 90s over the weekend and temperatures at or slightly above the century mark on Monday before dropping slightly back into the high 90s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nighttime temperatures are forecast to be in the low 60s.

In addition, widespread haze due to the region’s wildland fires is expected to impact Lake County through the middle of next week at least, based on the forecast.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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