Carson City weather: Valley rain, heavy snow in Sierra ahead
Submitted by Jaedyn Young on Sun, 02/18/2024 - 1:39pm
A winter storm will bring heavy wet snowfall with widespread travel impacts to the Sierra from late Sunday afternoon through Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The lower valleys are expected to see 0.75 to 1 inch of spillover rainfall, including the Carson City area, according to NSW forecasters in the latest weather discussion, which are updated twice daily.
Motorists traveling over the mountain passes for the Presidents Day weekend can expect slick roads and slower travel across the Sierra due to winter conditions and holiday traffic.
At the time of this writing, the weather service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the greater Lake Tahoe area and Sierra from Sunday evening until Wednesday morning.
Travelers should call 511 or see NVroads.com for the latest road conditions.
The Sunday storm is expected to bring widespread rain and high-elevation snow to the region. The valleys are expected to see rain showers and little to no snow accumulation, according to forecasters.
The forecastors are expecting that snow levels Sunday night through early Monday morning will hover around 7000 to 8000 feet. The snow levels are expected to drop late Monday morning through the remainder of the day to around 5500 to 6000 feet in the greater Lake Tahoe area. Lower elevations may see a bit of snow, but not much is expected.
Wind advisories have been issued for Mineral County and Pyramid Lake and the expected strongest winds will occur late Monday morning into the evening. Gusts along the ridges in the Sierra will be upwards of 70 to 100 mph and the western Nevada areas will see gusts between 35-50 mph, with stronger gusts upwards of 50-60 mph in wind prone areas, especially into Mineral County and Walker Lake.
Regardless, heavy snow on the Sierra passes (Donner Summit, Echo Summit and Carson Pass) will impact travel during busy holiday traffic, so be sure to travel carefully in the mountains this weekend. Longer commute times and possible travel delays are expected, according to NSW.
Expected snow accumulations range from 4 to 10 inches at lake level with 2 to 4 feet above 7000 feet.
Tuesday Onward:
Snow levels will remain around 5000 to 6000 feet from Tuesday into Wednesday, with locally heavy snow at times. Additional accumulations of 1 to 2 feet will be possible along the Sierra crest, 3 to 6 inches down to Lake Tahoe Level, and 5 to 10 inches for communities along US-395 above 7000 feet, acccording to forecasters.
From Thursday into next weekend, the area will return to calmer weather with average temperatures and drier weather.
