Winter

Heading into the weekend, there’s a bevy of activities around the Carson City region over the next three days. Events include the 31st season of the Nutcracker Ballet, a Feast with a Hero fundraiser at Slot World, Small Business Saturday throughout Carson City and Carson Valley, photos with Santa, a Telegraph Square sign dedication, Polar Express train rides at the V&T Railroad and more!

The 2019 Turkey Trot and Gobble Wobble started bright and early Thanksgiving morning after an overnight snow flurry or two turned the Governor’s Mansion into a Carson City winter wonderland.

With the arrival of Thanksgiving, forecasters say periods of snow and hazardous travel conditions will continue through the holiday weekend and into Monday, prompting the National Weather Service to call for another round of winter storm watches and travel advisories.

The last Thursday of November means a big gobble gobble, Happy Thanksgiving to all. Enjoy in the games, festivities, activities at home and outdoors. Events are at a minimum, for obvious reasons, but the two big ones are traditions for us in the capital city. The Carson City Turkey Trot at the Governor's Mansion and the free Carson Nugget Thanksgiving community dinner. Enjoy your day and any slight break in the weather. More winter storms are on the way.

Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe welcomed skiers and boarders to the slopes Wednesday morning with 11 inches of new snow on the ground, launching the 2019-20 winter season.

The first big snow storm of the winter season arrived overnight and into Wednesday morning bringing snow to the valley floor and Sierra, causing travel headaches for many Thanksgiving holiday motorists with any number of accidents, fender benders and spinouts.

The gate on Ash Canyon Road, located at the trailhead to the Ash to Kings Trail in Ash Canyon is now closed, according to Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space.

While technically still fall, winter conditions are upon us and with it comes winter weather driving. Please drive carefully, reduce your speeds and watch for pedestrians.

With the window for safe motor travel over the Sierra closing, the National Weather Service says travelers may experience headaches on their return home from the Thanksgiving holiday as another winter storm is brewing and likely to arrive by late Saturday into Sunday.

With the season's first big winter storm expected to arrive later Tuesday evening into Thanksgiving, you can still get in activities around the capital city before the snow flies. There's a morning walk and evening hike with Muscle Powered, a job fair at the Carson Nugget, fitness and swing classes at Yaple's Ballroom, a Carson City School Board meeting and more.

RENO — Air travel during the busy Thanksgiving holiday will hit a high in 2019 with Reno-Tahoe International Airport anticipating more passengers departing earlier this year, largely due to the incoming winter storms arriving in the region.

A winter storm expected to bring feet of snow to the Sierra and anywhere from 1 to 6 inches to the valley floors during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period is headed our way, with snow expected to arrive late Tuesday afternoon and last through through Thanksgiving, according to the National Weather Service.

North Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Douglas fire protection districts, along with California State Parks, California Tahoe Conservancy and the USDA Forest Service may continue prescribed fire operations over the next few weeks in the Tahoe Basin — weather conditions and staffing permitted.

The first significant snow-driven storms of the season remain on track to impact western Nevada and Sierra midday Tuesday through Wednesday, coinciding with one of the busiest travel periods of the year. Motorists are advised that if they can do it, they should finish travel over the Sierra by Tuesday morning to avoid long delays and highway travel headaches.

If you too have been thinking of planting new trees or shrubs, plant now, instead of planting in the spring when the soil is cold. Trees do best next year when planted this fall when the soil is warm. Even as the temperatures drop, the soil stays warm until hard freezes last for weeks.

The American Citizen Essay winners are in, and they all have one thing in common: cash prizes. This year, the Carson City School District Board of Trustees selected the topic, “An early motto of the United States was e pluribus unum, which means ‘out of many, one,’ so how do we embrace diversity and inclusiveness to come together as one country?”

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and Carson City residents showed up in masses to start their holiday shopping. Carson High School (CHS) played host to over a hundred crafters, artisans, candy makers, knitters and even more happy shoppers at this weekend’s 25th Annual Holiday Craft Fair.

Baseball’s winter meetings are underway, and the Reno Aces’ 2020 season is right around the corner.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and CottonSeed Company knows him!

Santa will be here November 30th from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. Santa has many Boys and Girls to visit before Christmas so his time is precious.

We will have 2 separate photo opportunities that day - priced individually and booked individually.

The Carson City School District will be holding its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 26 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Sierra Room of the Community Center located at 851 E. William Street.

A discussion and possible action will be on the table for proposed capital projects as supported by the facilities master plan committee, including construction of classrooms at Eagle Valley Middle School intended to alleviate student overcrowding at Carson Middle School, in an estimated amount not to exceed $8.2 million, which will be financed by the sale of the 2019B school bonds.

With Western Nevada and Sierra finally seeing some rain and snow showers, weather forecasters say more may be on the way next week through the Thanksgiving holiday period.

During the cold winter months in a pocket of the capital city, a bit of magic is sprinkled about on the historic rail that once transported gold from Virginia City to the mint in Carson City, but now transports elves, hot cocoa, and silver bells for a few special weeks each year.

The Polar Express rolled into town on Nov. 15 with the help of the historic V&T Railway Commission, and with it, a certain jolly old man and his magical helpers.

The USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will begin the sale of Christmas tree permits on Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. Permits cost $10 each payable by cash, check or credit card. Please note, cash sales are quicker and allow for more efficient payment processing.

CARSON CITY — With a light storm forecast this week and holiday travel next week, the Nevada Department of Transportation is encouraging drivers to sign up for e-mail and text alerts for their own frequently-traveled state routes.

Even though valley rain and Sierra snow happen this time of year, we're in for a brief change after going weeks without any precipitation. Enjoy the changeup. Activities around the capital city Tuesday include a morning walk and evening hike with Muscle Powered, a Carson City Republican Women's Club luncheon honoring our veterans, a kindergarten open house at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School, a safety presentation for older adults presented by Carson City TRIAD; fitness and swing classes at Yaple's Ballroom, Art Night Out at the Carson City Library and more.

Sure, rain and snow conditions ahead are normal by Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe area weather standards, but after several weeks of zero precipitation, bone-dry conditions and abundant sunshine, even the cynics will say any change is noteworthy.

CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER: How many songs can a choir sing about snow? Quite a few, considering the metaphorical gold mine that is snow! It is the blanket the Earth pulls over herself as she slumbers, hushed and still. It hides the uneven and flawed places of the ground, it ushers in the holiday; we play in it. It is the beginning or the ending of life, depending on the composer.

After weeks of abundant sunshine and above-average fall temperatures, some change is ahead weather wise around the Carson City region, with a system expected to move into the region late Tuesday, bringing the potential for some valley rain showers and mountain snow, but not considered in any way a major winter storm, forecasters say.

Carson High and Douglas High teaming up together is right up there with the appearing of Halley’s Comet. Officially designated 1P/Halley, this is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–76 year and is the only known short-period comet that is visible to the naked eye from Earth and the only naked-eye comet that might appear twice in a human lifetime.

Happy Sunday, Carson City! It’s going to be a beautiful fall day, so check below to see the ways you can enjoy it!