Carson City area weather: Strong winds, valley rain and Sierra snow possible this week
Mild temperatures continue through Tuesday before a couple of quick-moving storms will move in bringing gusty winds, Sierra snow and rain to the Carson City area, according to the National Weather Service.
The first system will be warm and windy with snow levels relatively high, 6,500 to 8,500 feet, on Wednesday, while the second system arriving Thursday will drop snow levels to near 5,000 feet, forecasters said.
The weather service advises motorists to plan on travel issues and recreation impacts Wednesday into Thursday, especially with widespread, strong gusty winds and the potential for Sierra snow and valley rain. See NVroads.com for travel conditions.
Gusty winds in the valley and Sierra
There will be strong, gusty southwest winds with the arrival of the first system. Weather models show wind gusts in the lower valleys to be in the 30 mph to 45 mph range, with wind prone areas nearing 50 mph to 55 mph by midday Wednesday and into the evening. Sierra ridge wind gusts will be in the 80 mph to 90 mph with locations along the Sierra crest approaching 100 mph gusts.
Rain and snow
The pair of storms will bring some increased chances for precipitation, including Sierra snow and valley rain showers. The showers will likely result in some travel issues with several inches of snow possible along the higher passes from Wednesday into Thursday, NWS forecasters said.
For the lower valley areas, there's a 30 to 50 percent chances of rain in far western Nevada and 10 to 30 percent chances in the basin and range.
Snow levels will be around 6,500 to 8,000 feet with the initial wave, but as showers dissipate Thursday morning, the secondary system will bring another round of showers with lower snow levels through the evening.
Forecasters said to expect some light snow showers for the foothills of western Nevada as the snow levels drop to near 5,000 to 5,500 on Thursday. Otherwise, up to 6 inches of snow is possible for the higher Sierra from Lake Tahoe northward.
Looking ahead to the weekend, NWS forecasters said by Friday there may be a handful of lingering showers from the quick-moving storms, but much of the precipitation and the winds are projected to be to the north with high pressure making a comeback across the Sierra and western Nevada.