Firewood in Verdi, NV

Verdi lies on the Truckee River against the California line at about 4,900 feet. The rain gauge in town records far more precipitation than the Reno airport does, and that changes how you think about keeping a stack dry.

At a glance

• About 7.8% of households heat mainly with wood
• A volunteer gauge in town reads 19.7 inches of precipitation a year
• Median home built in 1986
• About 54 minutes from our Carson City yard without traffic

More rain than Reno

A volunteer rain gauge about 0.2 miles from the middle of Verdi, at 4,900 feet, has a 1991-2020 normal of 19.69 inches of precipitation a year (NOAA, CoCoRaHS station). The Reno airport normal is 7.35 inches. The numbers come from different kinds of stations and short records can run high, so read them as a direction: Verdi gets noticeably more water from the sky than the valley to its east. For a woodpile that means rain and snowmelt on the stack are a bigger concern than they are in Reno, and a cover on top matters.

The EPA suggests storing firewood off the ground with the top covered and the sides open to air.

How many households burn wood

About 41 of 527 households in Verdi, 7.8%, heat mainly with wood, and about 12.5% use bottled gas (ACS 2020-2024). That is seven times Washoe County's 1.1%. The median home was built in 1986 and about 26% date from before 1980. The sample is tiny, so the percentage is approximate.

Distance from the yard

Our Carson City yard is 44.5 miles from Verdi, about 54 minutes without traffic, a free-flow estimate that does not allow for weather. Call 775.232.8243 for availability and pricing; the office can tell you what is available, how it is sold, and how the wood would get to your address. Species, amounts, prices and delivery terms are not published online.

Fire and the woodpile on the river bench

The Forest Service puts Verdi's wildfire risk to homes higher than about 99% of US communities, with about 33% of buildings directly exposed. Our research lists the Crystal fire (1994, 7,392 acres), with its mapped center about 2.6 miles away, and the Hawk fire (2026) within about 6 miles. Keep woodpiles out of Zone 0, the first 5 feet around a building, as University of Nevada, Reno Extension recommends.

Burn code and keeping it local

Verdi is in Washoe County, so Northern Nevada Public Health's burn code applies from November 1 to the end of February. Don't Move Firewood adds that Nevada restricts uncertified firewood from quarantined areas out of state and advises buying and burning in the same area, which matters in a town this close to the California line.