The first week of December will be filled with sunshine, breezy conditions at times and cooler temperatures across Carson City and surrounding counties.
There’s not that much in the way of moisture this week either, with a slight chance of light snow Tuesday in northwest Nevada and eastern Sierra, but nothing in the way of winter storms, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters said the coolest days are expected Wednesday and Thursday, with mainly dry conditions prevailing through the upcoming week.
Prevailing high pressure off the West Coast should effectively block any moisture-laden Pacific storms from reaching the Sierra or western Nevada this week, NWS forecasters said.
Valley inversions and light winds return Monday with highs in the mid 40s to near 50 for lower elevations and Sierra communities.
For Tuesday, another weak upper low drops in from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Basin. Weather models trend toward a drier scenario, with a back door cold front passage across western Nevada, forecasters said.
While a few flurries or light snow showers can’t be ruled out Tuesday night along the front in far northwest Nevada, or in the eastern Sierra, the potential for accumulating snowfall is less than 10 percent for at least 1 inch of snow in the eastern Sierra. Winds will be the primary effect Tuesday afternoon, with stronger ridge top gusts up to 50 mph, forecasters said.
After the cold front clears the region Wednesday morning, there may be a period of stronger winds on mountain ridge top, with potential for gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph, and increased risk of choppy conditions for western Tahoe shores.
Otherwise, temperatures will remain on the chilly side, with highs only in the upper 30s to mid 40s Wednesday and mainly 40s for Thursday. Wednesday night will likely be the coldest so far this season for most areas as lows plunge into the teens to lower 20s, forecasters said.
For the remainder of the week, the high pressure ridge appears to favor a drift to the south which may open up the Pacific storm track into the northwest US from Friday into the weekend.
Forecasters said there’s a chance for low-end showers near the Oregon border Friday into Saturday. Some weather models have shown the southern edge of the storm track moving closer to the Sierra into weekend, but the remainder of the model scenarios stays on the drier side.
Otherwise, there should see less inversion strength from Friday onward, allowing
temperatures to rebound into the 50s for most areas, forecasters said.
