Carson City area weather: Light snow possible down to valley floors by weekend
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 9:36am
After a week of sunshine around Carson City, the weather pattern will change beginning Friday and into next week, bringing colder weather, breezy conditions and chances for some accumulating snow down to the valley floor.
The first weather system arrives Friday into Saturday, with around an inch of snow down to the valley floors, 1 to 3 inches across the Tahoe Basin and eastern Sierra and 3 to 6 inches along the Sierra crest, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.
Cold temperatures will precede the snow, making for slick roads across the valleys and into the Sierra, according to the weather service. As of Thursday morning there were not any weather advisories posted for the Lake Tahoe Basin, Reno, Carson City, or Carson Valley areas.
Looking ahead, forecasters say unsettled weather will continue through the end of the month "with at least 2 storms of some flavor next week, and another possible next weekend," according to a weather service forecast discussion.
Sunday will continue to be cool ahead of the next storm. The main cold front with Sunday's storm looks to move through sometime overnight Sunday night and has the potential of being stronger than the Friday system, though forecasters acknowledge "we are not looking at a big storm by any means."
Perhaps around a foot of fluffy snow near the Sierra Crest is possible with a couple inches into western Nevada, according to the weather service.
Monday into Monday night, the system closes off into a low, and where this happens will dictate the location of any deformation bands which could bring additional snow. Outside of any of those bands, it will be showery and cold with the coldest air of this winter in place, according to the weather service.
Lake effect snow will also be possible downwind of the lakes with some decent accumulations possible in persistent lake bands. Tuesday will see the showers diminish as the low pulls away, but potentially with a very cold start. Normally colder locations could drop below zero with clearing and any snow cover.
The next storm could arrive sometime Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon. Forecasters say while it is too early to tell, they advise to plan on at least some snow in the Wednesday to Thursday time frame for all elevations even though it may mix with or change to rain at times in the lower valleys.
Also, the weather service advises to keep an eye on the forecast as the details with this storm will likely change. After it moves through, ensembles do show another system dropping off the coast next weekend with more mountain snow and valley rain or snow possible.
Check the latest forecast at weather.gov/Reno and check road conditions with Caltrans and NDOT.
For the latest weather discussion go here. For Carson City area updates see CarsonWeather.com.
