Carson City area weather: Valley rain showers ahead with a possible 'rumble of thunder'
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Sun, 03/31/2019 - 10:15am
As the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers," and the first week of April may indeed bring on the showers around the Carson City area, according to the National Weather Service.
An active weather pattern returns Monday to Thursday with a couple of systems bringing periods of gusty winds, valley rain and mountain snow with the possibility of a stronger system moving in by next weekend.
The first system arrives Monday and is considered relatively warm and weak, producing mainly light rain showers for most valley areas with high snow levels, above 8,000 feet. Breezy winds expected with gusts generally in the 25-35 mph range through Tuesday.
For Tuesday, snow levels may lower some from 6,500 to 7,000 feet, according to the weather service. This may allow for hit-and-miss type precipitation that could produce localized heavier rain and snow pellet showers which could briefly lower snow levels by a few hundred feet or increase totals locally at higher elevations.
A rumble of thunder is not out of the question, forecasters say. Nonetheless, still just looking at a few inches of snow along the mountain tops. Western Nevada rainfall amounts look to be 0.10 of inch with up to a quarter inch east of Lovelock and Fallon. Most showers will diminish by Tuesday night.
Wednesday brings a brief period of isolated showers to northeast California and areas near the Oregon border as the first shortwave moves east. This brief period of mostly dry weather ends by late Thursday as the next wave starts to impact our region. The potential for showers may spread east of the Sierra by late afternoon Thursday, with snow levels rising steady from 6,500 early Thursday to 8,000 feet by later in the day. That wave moves east by midday Friday.
The main system is fast on its heels bringing rain and snow to the Sierra and northeast California by Friday evening then spilling precipitation into western Nevada by Saturday morning. Ahead of this system gusty winds are likely to develop Friday afternoon in western Nevada.
