Carson City area weather: Storm pummels region with valley rain and Sierra snow
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Mon, 10/25/2021 - 8:44am
The atmospheric river weather system continues Monday morning having already dumped a deluge of valley rain and Sierra snow to the region. As of Monday morning, snow levels have dropped into the lower foothills and areas of Washoe Valley.
I-580 at Bowers Mansion was receiving a good amount of heavy wet snow this morning as well as I-580 near the Galena Bridge area, not to mention the lower foothills below Spooner Summit. Depending on where motorists are and what elevation, they can expect wet and slick road conditions as the massive, drenching weather system continues to move through the region this morning.
Local water ponding is being experienced nearly every place where drainages are either clogged or already have elevation and runoff issues. Public Works and NDOT are out in full force this morning.
The National Weather Service issued a Flood Warning earlier Monday morning for southern Lyon, Douglas and western Mineral counties in Nevada, as well as Alpine and Mono counties in California due to the volume of rain and snow falling. At around 8 a.m. heavy rainfall and lowering snow levels continued, threatening many areas with flooding, wildfire debris flows, high river and stream flows, poor driving conditions.
The weather service advises that these can and will trigger rockslides, mudslides and debris flow in steep terrain.
Meanwhile, flooding remains a concern particularly near recent wildfire burn scars. As the system continues to move and through, more precipitation is expected, before slowing down some Tuesday as the upper trough continues its exit from the region.
Many reports of flooding, debris flows, river rises, rock and tree falls, smaller creeks and streams running out of their banks, etc have occurred with this system. The heaviest rainfall continues to shift south and east across the central Sierra, the Sierra Front, and parts of western Nevada this Monday morning, according to NWS forecasters.
Snow levels have fallen this morning, bringing moderate to heavy snow is falling across the Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas as colder air plunges and spreads across the region.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in place for the Sierra and Lake Tahoe Basin through 11 p.m. tonight. Total snow accumulations of 4-9 inches at lake level mainly this morning, 12-18 inches for Spooner Summit, 18-24 inches for Mt Rose Summit, with several feet or more on higher peaks. The snow will possibly mix with or change back over to rain at times in the afternoon at lake level. So the worst conditions for lake level will be through the morning.
Snow levels have plummeted as a sharp thermal gradient increased the chances of wet snow accumulating over lower foothill areas of Reno through this morning, according to the weather service. Snow levels crashed to around 5,500 to 6,000 feet earlier this morning bringing around 2 to 3 inches per hour to all passes. Snowfall rates should taper off by mid-morning before the heaviest precipitation moves further south later this afternoon.
Total snow accumulations of 4"-9" could occur at lake level mainly this morning, 12"-18" for Spooner Summit, 18"-24" could possibly accumulate over the Mt Rose Summit, with several feet or more on higher peaks. The snow will possibly mix with or change back over to rain at times in the afternoon at lake level. So the worst conditions for lake level will be through the morning.
According to weather service forecasters, the bulk of the storm's moisture should exit the region by Monday afternoon and evening with lingering showers possible through Tuesday.
Check the latest forecast at weather.gov/Reno and check road conditions with Caltrans and NDOT. For Carson City area updates see CarsonWeather.com.
