Thunderstorms to Roll Through

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Another low pressure center will descend across Nevada over the next few days and increase chances for showers and thunderstorms through the weekend, with the best chance in Reno for storms occurring on Thursday. High temperatures will drop a bit on Thursday (low 70s in the valleys) before climbing back up into the 80s by the weekend. The threat for showers and thunderstorms will diminish by Sunday as high pressure strengthens and provides much warmer and above temperatures next week.

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A Wild Memorial Weekend…Just Like Always

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This certainly won’t be the first Memorial Day Weekend with some less than ideal outdoor weather (it seems to happen every year), but even with that low bar, it’s likely to be one of the least “Unofficial Start of the Summer-ish” types of forecasts that we’ve had for a few years.

Cool and showers weather will continue through the Weekend, with a chance of showers and/or thunderstorms right on through. Temperatures will begin to drop on Saturday into the upper 60s and then down to the 50s on Sunday. Precipitation-wise, snow levels will remain above the major passes until late Saturday night, after which they will drop below 7,000’. Total accumulations will likely be light, probably not more than a few inches in the passes above Lake Tahoe, with perhaps twice that down toward Mammoth, but it could be enough to cause some travel issues for those unprepared.

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Total Water Content through Sunday 9 pm

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Total Snowfall through Sunday 9 pm

Temperatures slowly rebound on Memorial Day Monday (mid-60s) and should make the 70s through the rest of the week, with only a slight chance of mainly afternoon showers.

Another Unsettled Memorial Day Weekend

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Unsettled weather will continue through the holiday weekend, with a slight chance of Thursday and Friday showers giving way to a better chance on Saturday and Sunday with the passage of a weak low pressure center. Temperatures will rebound slightly over the next couple of days, reaching the mid-60s Thursday and near 70 on Friday. As the next low passes through over the weekend, showers and isolated thunderstorms will increase, and temperatures will fall back into the low to mid-60s. Memorial Day Monday should warm a few degrees, with fewer showers. Temperatures should rise to near seasonal norms (mid-70s) by the middle of next week.

Another Round of Wintry Weather in the Mountains Tonight.

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The week ahead will still be well on the chilly side of average, with occasional storm systems breaking things up between dry spots. Thursday night showers will be cold enough to cause a Winter Weather Advisory for the Lake Tahoe area through the night, but should dry out Friday morning, with high temperatures still struggling to get to the 60 degree mark in the valleys. Saturday will start off dry and cloudy, with the next storm system bringing some mountain rain and snow to the mountains by Saturday afternoon. High temperatures should nudge back up into the 60s. Sunday remains unsettled with showers and highs dropping back into the 50s. Conditions remain cool with isolated to scattered showers through the middle of next week.

Valley Rain and Mountain Snow!

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Some big changes are coming our way. The storm track, which for much of May has been well to our north, will drop down for the next week or so, dropping both temperatures and occasional valley rain and mountain snow. For Wednesday, valley temperatures will drop back into the 60s with occasional showers and brisk winds. Snow levels on Wednesday will be quite high, above 8,500′, but those will fall quickly on Thursday, likely to about Lake Tahoe level. Travel over the passes on Thursday could be challenging, and a Winter Storm Warning has been posted on the west side of the Sierra. The valley will see Thursday highs drop to the 50s with rain likely, especially on the west side, as there will be some shadowing. Temperatures rebound a bit into the weekend, but occasional showers are in the extended forecast.

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Guard The Tomatoes!

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Looking at this forecast, a vision of the little girl in the movie “The Shining” keeps popping up in my hear….”It’s baaaaaack….”

Just when you might have thought that warmer spring-like weather was here to stay, a fast moving inside slider type of storm system will make a quick but dramatic pass through the region Tuesday. High temperatures will fall more than 20 degrees from Monday’s highs as a low drops down from the north. This kind of pattern will likely result in as much or more precipitation in the valleys compared to the mountains, so it shouldn’t pose any real difficult travel issues over the passes. Snow levels will range from 6,000-7,000′.

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By Wednesday morning the skies will clear and we can expect a moderate to hard freeze in the valleys, so take measures to protect any frost sensitive plants. Temperatures will climb quickly back into the 60s Wednesdays and the 70s by Thursday. A slight chance of showers returns to the region by the weekend.

Still in a Stormy Pattern

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This will be an unsettled weather week, with occasional valley rain and mountain snow and rain. Snow levels will stay well above the valley floor through Thursday, and would even pop above Lake Tahoe a bit here and there, before dropping back to the valley floor by Friday. The mountains do have a Winter Weather Advisory posted starting 10 pm Tuesday which will run through noon on Thursday. It’s a fairly warm storm, so the snow will be wet and heavy.
In the valley, there will be fairly significant shadowing occurring, but some locations could still see several tenths of an inch of rainfall over the next few days. High temperatures stay in the low 50s through Thursday before dropping to the low 40s on Friday, at which time some snow could reach the valley floor, although I don’t expect heavy accumulations all the way down here. Through the course of the week the mountains could pile up anywhere from a few inches at the Lake to two or more feet along the crest of the Sierra.

High Winds in Valley…Mountain Winter Storm Warning

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In a nutshell, a very stormy week. High valley winds will continue for the next couple of days, although probably not quite as powerful as the winds we saw Monday afternoon. A series of storm fronts will slam into the mountains, with snow levels likely to stay above the valley floors for the most part, but should reach down to Lake Tahoe through most of the week. Travel over the passes will be extremely difficult through Wednesday (A Winter Storm Warning is posted for the mountains until early Thursday morning.) In the valley, a High Wind Warning is in effect through this evening. The strong winds will create significant rain shadowing, so rainfall amounts will be mostly limited to the western foothills, although some spillover rainfall should be expected through Wednesday. Temperatures will range from the low 50s to the mid-40s through the rest of the week.

Still Unsettled…Just Not As Strong

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While the weather pattern remains generally unsettled for the next week, the storms moving through the region shouldn’t be as strong as what we’ve had the first six weeks of the year. Scattered snow showers through Thursday, with a possibility of some lake effect snow south of Pyramid Thursday afternoon, could put down anything from a dusting to a few inches of snow in various valley locations. By Friday and Saturday, we get a bit of a break with temperatures warming in the 30s Friday warming into the 40s for the weekend. Another weak to moderate storm moves in Sunday and Monday bringing with it a chance of additional rain or snow in the valleys.

Brief Break…Cold Night…Snow Returning Wednesday

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We have a brief break in the action before the next storm system comes through, and while we may see some more snow coming our way Wednesday into Thursday, it’s not expected to be on the same scale of some of the previous storms to come our way these last several weeks. Because the next storm will be dropping down out of the north, it will exhibit “inside slider” tendencies, which means it’s not likely to be a huge mountain snow producer, but a few valley inches are possible. In addition, the cold flow could create additional Lake Effect snowfalls off the southern ends of Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake.

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Snow on the ground will allow temperatures to drop into the low teens and single digits tonight, and the super moon should light up the valley pretty well overnight.  High temperatures will stay in the 30s through the rest of the work week, before warming into the 40s over the weekend.