Gusty conditions will continue Sunday around the Carson City area with snow expected in the Sierra that may make it down to the valley floors on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Reno.
A Wind Advisory remains in effect for the valley areas and a Winter Weather Advisory for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra. The advisory could be expanded later Sunday with the potential for snow arriving to the valley floor Monday afternoon, said NWS meteorologist Evan LaGuardia.
The Wind Advisory is until 4 p.m. Sunday. Winds are from the south, 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph and affects the Greater Reno, Carson City, Carson Valley areas as well as Lyon County. The weather services advises that wind gusts could blow around unsecured objects and tree limbs could be blown down that could result in power outages.
For now, the Winter Weather Advisory is for Lake Tahoe and Sierra and runs until 10 p.m. Monday. The weather service says the Sierra can expect snow, with accumulations of 1 to 5 inches, except 3 to 9 inches above 7,000 feet and localized amounts of a foot along the Sierra crest. Winds gusting as high as 50 mph with ridge gusts to 100 mph at times.
On Monday, snow is expected down to valley floors, beginning around noon or after, said LaGuardia.
“We could see light accumulation for Reno, Sparks and Carson City. We could see anywhere from a trace amount to 1 or two inches of snow. This will last through early Tuesday morning,” he said.
On Tuesday, Christmas Eve, it will be cold with spotty showers around the region but nothing too significant, he said. On Wednesday, Christmas Day, we can expect showery weather and cold temperatures but no significant snowfall for our area.
The travel impacts will be Monday into Tuesday, said LaGuardia.
“Motorist can expect slick conditions on the valley floor, especially around sun down, where it will stick to the roadways,” he said. “It could be a messy commute possibly for Monday evening. After that, we can expect showery weather and it will be cold. Once we get through Monday evening, it will be clearing out, showery and cold through Christmas.”
The storm could affect holiday travel. Even light snowfall causes major travel delays, especially during periods of high traffic volume. Be sure to allow extra time to reach your destination. Leave extra space between vehicles since it takes longer to stop on slick roadways. Call 511 for the latest road conditions or log onto NVRoads.com.
