Windy conditions are expected into the weekend for the Carson City area and surrounding counties, with a slight chance of rain showers in the lower valleys and snow showers possible along the higher elevations around Lake Tahoe and Sierra, according to the National Weather Service.
Additional systems may bring even better chances for valley rain and mountain snow Monday into Wednesday, NWS forecasters said in the Thursday afternoon weather discussion.
The series of storm systems will move into the region late Friday with periods of rain and higher elevation snow showers in the Sierra, and a chance of rain showers for western Nevada.
Gusty west to southwest winds will start to pick up by Saturday afternoon and remain strong through Monday. The foothill and ridge top winds could see gusts between 60 mph to 80 mph during this time, according to the weather service. Surface wind gusts will generally be in the 25 mph to 35 mph range with localized wind prone locations closer to 40 mph for western Nevada and northeast California.
The first possibility of precipitation, likely rain in the lower elevations, will be Saturday morning into Sunday morning where there is a 40 to 60 percent chance for precipitation (rain in lower elevations, snow showers in the higher elevations) in northwest Nevada, the Sierra and northeast California, especially north of I-80. Sunday precipitation chances will be lower.
Two day precipitation totals will be between 0.05 to 0.20 of an inch. Latest models shows a lower chance 15 to 20 percent of showers in the southern counties of Mono County in California and Mineral County in Nevada as well as inner basins and ranges.
Two-day accumulations in these areas will be generally less than 0.10″ at best. Snow levels are still projected to be around 10,000 feet to start Saturday, eventually falling to around 8,000-9,000 feet by Sunday with very minor — a trace — of accumulation, according to the weather service.
The next period for precipitation will be on Monday into early Wednesday. There are better chances, around 60 to 80 percent precipitation chances for the Sierra north of US-50, northeast California and northwest Nevada. Two-day precipitation totals in these areas will be greater during this time, ending up between 0.25-0.5 of an inch.
The biggest difference is that there are slightly better chances for precipitation south of US-50 in the Sierra and spillover in western Nevada. However, accumulations still look meager in those areas with generally up to 0.10″ or less, NWS forecasters said Thursday.
Snow levels will start off lower on Monday morning, around 7,000 to 8,000 feet. By Tuesday morning, snow levels are around 6,000 to 7,000 feet and down to around 5,500 to 6,000 feet by Wednesday morning.
Snow amounts are greater during this time frame, with between a trace to 2 inches between 6,500-7,500 feet and 2 to 6 inches above 7,500-8,500 feet.
