Thunderstorms end dry spell; tornado near Ely

The funnel cloud touched down near Mosier Canyon southeast of Ely about 1 p.m. Thursday as thunderstorms moved across White Pine County, the National Weather Service said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage.

The storms brought the first measurable rain in a month to Reno, where temperatures had soared above 100 degrees four straight days over last weekend.

On June 23, Reno had .16 inch of rain, with just a trace reported June 25, July 6 and July 21.

The flash flood watch was in effect into Thursday night along portions of the eastern Sierra and northeastern California.

The watch area included the Reno-Sparks-Carson City area, Lake Tahoe, and Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing and Storey counties. In California, the watch covered Lassen and Mono counties along with the eastern portions of Alpine, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas and Sierra counties.

The weather service predicted scattered showers and thunderstorms would continue on Friday.

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