Gusty winds and low humidity in the coming days ahead has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Fire Weather Watch from Friday through Saturday for much of western Nevada, including Carson City and surrounding counties.
During the watch period of 11 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Saturday, in which a Red Flag Warning may follow, people are advised to avoid activities that cause a spark, including dragging trailer chains and driving motorized vehicles over dry vegetation.
In the short term, warm and breezy afternoons are expected through Thursday. Then gusty winds will move in with the strong cold front Friday and Saturday, elevating the fire weather concerns for western Nevada, forecasters said. Temperatures will also cool down considerably, 10-20 degrees below average over the weekend with light showers possible.
Wind gusts of more than 40 mph possible
NWS forecasters say the pattern change is expected this weekend as an unusually strong cold front by June standards sweeps through much of the Great Basin. The front will bring temperatures that have been around 10 degrees above average to around 20 degrees below average by Sunday. This drop will bring the gusty wind conditions.
Forecasters say we are looking at widespread 20 to 50 percent chances to see wind gusts of more than 40 mph across the eastern Sierra and western Nevada on Friday and Saturday with Saturday showing stronger sustained wind potential around 20 to 30 mph.
Fire weather concerns will be at the forefront for western Nevada as these areas will see the best combination of strong winds, low humidity, and dry fuels, NWS forecasters said.
In addition to fire weather concerns, winds could disrupt outdoor recreation, create hazardous boating conditions, and impact road and aviation travel. High profile vehicles could be impacted by strong crosswinds, and blowing dust may reduce visibility in areas downwind of desert sinks.
Precipitation will mainly concentrate along the cold front Saturday into early Sunday morning. Showers chances will largely remain northward of I-80 with a 10-20% chance of seeing up to 0.10″ of rainfall with 30-50 percent odds for the northern areas of Washoe County and into northern California and around the Oregon border, forecasters said.
High elevation snow possible in mountains above Lake Tahoe
Snow levels will fall to around 7,000 to 8,000 from the Tahoe Basin to the Oregon border which means light snow showers are not out of the question for higher elevations of the northern Sierra and Warner mountains.
Temperatures are expected to fall to around 15-20 degrees below late June averages Saturday and Sunday. While not cold so to speak, highs in the lower 70s for this time of year have a 75% chance of setting record cold high temperatures on Sunday. Sierra valleys by Sunday morning could see 60-70% odds of overnight lows falling below freezing. Even Carson Valley communities could see a 20-25% chance hitting the freezing.
