As for the storms we’ve had lately, some feel left out. Here’s a note I got from a reader: “I have lived in the Carson Valley for 67 years… third generation here. My question is why does all the weather bypass us? Whenever there is rain on the way, it seems to split, and is raining on the Pinenuts, or on the Sierra’s, but not in the valley. We get very little rain. What’s the deal?”

One of the big reasons for what he is describing is the fact that he sits in a pretty deep valley, and any weather that tries to go to him gets “rain-shadowed”. If you are on the lee (downwind) side of a mountain range, that forces air downward as it comes down the mountain. That heats up the air due to an increase in air pressure, and that evaporates the clouds. Those in the Carson Valley (and here in Reno, for that matter) almost always have downslope no matter from which direction the wind is coming. I know… it doesn’t seem fair, but it’s the price we pay for all the glorious scenery around us.