Carson City area weather: Next storm to produce valley rain, gusty winds and heavy Sierra snow
After Friday's storm brought as much as 13 inches of snow to Carson City, the next storm to arrive this week is likely to produce rain in the valleys with heavy snow to stay in the Sierra, according to the National Weather Service.
Gusty winds, light valley rain and Sierra snow and rain will develop Tuesday and Tuesday night, with some travel impacts possible for Sierra and northeast California passes. The "atmospheric river" weather system is expected to arrive Wednesday with gusty winds, valley rain, Sierra rain and snow that will continue until a cold front moves through late Thursday into Friday morning.
Sierra impacts:
Snow levels will start out fairly high, between 7,000 and 8,500 feet, Wednesday and Wednesday night before falling Thursday night into Friday with a cold front. Several feet of snowfall are likely in the high Sierra by Friday morning.
Snowfall in the Tahoe Basin, and in Mono County below 8000 feet, is more uncertain and will depend on how fast snow levels fall. Still, significant travel impacts for the main Sierra passes including Interstate 80 and Highway 50 are likely on Thursday, continuing into Friday morning...with impacts to Highway 395 in Mono County possible by Thursday night.
Strong winds are likely over mountain ridges, with periodic stronger gusts surfacing in Sierra valley locations.
For Carson City and Western Nevada
For Wednesday and Thursday, rain is expected to fall in the valleys and foothills of western Nevada. A few snowflakes may mix in with the rain by early Friday morning, but accumulations are unlikely outside of elevations above 5,500 feet.
Winds are expected to be gusty, which could bring periodic impacts to aviation and high-profile vehicles. Currently the two periods of strongest winds look to be Wednesday and again Thursday afternoon, according to the weather service.
Latest trends have shown a distinct period of a warm storm, which means higher snow levels, Wednesday and Thursday followed by colder and shorter duration systems heading into the next weekend. Overall, forecasters say they are anticipating a roughly 24-36 hour period of precipitation from Wednesday through Thursday evening with a peak precipitation window from Thursday morning into the early evening.
Snow levels look to start around the 7,500-8,000 foot vicinity Wednesday into early Thursday morning from the Tahoe Basin and extending south through the Sierra in Mono County. Snow levels will begin to fall to 6,500 to 7,000 by Thursday afternoon from Tahoe to Mono County before dropping below 6,000 feet by Thursday evening.
Check back for updates.