Carson City area weather: Valley wind and rain Saturday, snow Sunday
Forecasters hinted last weekend that a significant change in the weather was coming. That change should arrive beginning late Friday into Saturday with gusty winds and rain around Carson City and snow in the Sierra that may lower to the valley floors by Sunday.
The transition to an active and wet pattern will begin this weekend and persist into next week. The first system will be a weaker, warmer storm that will likely impact travel across Sierra passes, with snow levels around 7,500 to 8,000 feet. The mountains above Tahoe could see anywhere from 1 to 3 feet from the weekend storms, according to the National Weather Service.
The stronger system will push through the region Saturday night through Monday morning that should be a moderate and colder storm with travel impacts expected along the valley floors.
The active “atmospheric river” pattern will continue with the potential for additional moderate to strong storms possible as early as Thursday and may extend through next weekend, said NWS forecaster Tony Fuentes.
It will be windy with the arrival of the storm Saturday with gusts 40 to 60 mph and ridge gusts to 100 mph.
Snow will begin in the higher elevations of the Sierra late Friday night and continue into early Monday. The following are current snowfall projections with confidence lower below 6,500 feet due to uncertainty in timing.
— Sierra above 7,000 feet, 1 to 3 feet
— Sierra between 6,000 and 7,000 feet, up to a foot with heaviest snow along and west of Highway 89.
— Foothills and Sierra Valleys between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, six inches.
— Below 5,000 feet, up to a couple inches.
Snow covered roads are likely over high Sierra passes by Saturday and all Sierra passes Saturday night into Sunday. Snow will expand to throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin, Eastern Sierra and the lower valleys, including Carson City, Carson Valley, Reno, Virginia City and Dayton areas by Monday morning, said Fuentes.