Carson City area weather: Mountain snow showers tonight, storms likely after New Year's Day
A fast moving storm will bring periods of light snow above 6,500 feet Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm will peak between 5 to 10 p.m. and bring up to 2 inches at pass elevations, with snowfall rates of one-half to one inch per hour, NWS forecasters said.
Sierra passes such as Mt. Rose, Spooner, Donner, Echo, and Yuba could see slick travel conditions this evening, including the commute. Check road conditions at NVroads.com before heading out and over.
Further south, into Mono County and along Highway 395, snow showers are expected to be more spotty Wednesday night with only localized travel impacts.
Looking ahead to the weekend, warmer, dry weather is expected Thursday and Friday making it good for travel, before the next storm moves in with the potential to bring widespread rain and mountain snow Friday night and Saturday, according to the latest NWS forecast discussion.
Forecast models show between a 30 to 60 percent chance for a foot or more of snow along the Sierra crest above 6,500 to 7,000 feet. Wind hazards appear confined to Sierra ridges, with 20 percent or less odds of gusts over 40 mph in valley communities.
Further out, there continues to be a bit of "noise" in weather models, forecasters said. At this time there's no significant storm signals for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. That be said, models show chances for snow showers in the mountains those days. At Lake Tahoe, there's a 60 percent chance of snow Friday night and an 80 percent chance of snow Saturday, with a chance of snow on Sunday.
The next meaningful storm window is centered on Wednesday, Jan. 3 and Thursday, Jan. 4. This one would definitely be colder than this week's storms, with rain-snow lines down to 4,500 to 5,000 feet possibly affecting western Nevada with some snow. Therefore, the potential for additional storms remains next week.
While NWS forecast confidence is mixed, any storms would be colder with potential for snow impacts at lower elevations.
Check back for updates.