Once again an Atmospheric River will sweep through the region, bringing more rain and flooding concerns to the region. Thursday morning showers will turn to significant rain below 8,500’ in the afternoon, and there are flood watches and warnings throughout the region. The biggest concern once again will be small streams and drainages, especially in the lower mountains and foothills. Minor to moderate flooding could occur on the Truckee River near the town of Truckee, while the rest of the river should peak just at or under flood stage. Other rivers with significant flooding concerns include the Feather, Susan and Pitt Rivers.
High winds will also accompany this storm system, with valley gusts expected as high as 70 mph and mountaintop speeds well above 100 mph. A High Wind Watch is now posted for Thursday, and there’s a good chance that will be upgraded to a High Wind Warning.
As the Atmospheric River drops down to the south late Thursday night, some cooler air will move into the region, dropping temperatures from the low 60s Thursday to the 50s Friday. Mountain snow showers should decrease Friday evening. As things dry out over the weekend, temperatures will fall back into the 40s.
A Word of Weather 
Hi Mike
I wanted to report that Southwest Gardnerville Ranchos clearly had a tornado-like event yesterday. There is a swath through my yard and all of my neighbors yards with trees, fences, and small buildings blown down or missing. I had a large plastic garden shed, 6 feet tall, 3′ wide and full of yard & garden tools, that was just completely missing. Had it simply been blown across my gravel driveway there would have been drag marks but there wasnt a scratch on the ground. We finally found it several hundred yards away, across a road, on the other side of a fence, and behind a row of shrubs and a hedge. It couldn’t have possible gotten there unless something lifted it up and over the obstacles and then dropped it!! Like most of my neighbors I also lost shingles (on a brand new roof) and several trees.
Keep up the great work. Your news reports are my favorite of all the local channels.
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Hi rodger… While I am quite sure it was not an actual tornado, often times with the strong wind events you can get what is referred to as a shear vortex. It’s basically some spinning error that occurs due to windshear on the ground in turbulent events. Something like that could’ve easily picked up a shed and tossed it around.
Thanks for writing in, and for your very gracious comments.
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