We are falling back into an active weather pattern for the next week. A series of moderate strength storms is lined up to move through starting Thursday. Strong winds will accompany Thursday’s storm (a valley Wind Advisory has been posted), and while there will be significant shadowing in Reno, the west side of the valley should receive some spillover precipitation. The mountains will see snow levels drop to about lake level by the middle of the day, and a Winter Weather advisory has been posted in the mountains. After a brief break Thursday night, the next storm system will move through Friday afternoon, striking the coast farther south, but is large enough to bring rain and snow to our region as well. Scattered showers continue through the weekend, and then another stronger storm moves through Monday and Tuesday.

So can contrails be used to forecast the weather? Like most efforts to forecast the weather just by looking at the clouds, your success can vary greatly depending on what the clouds are, and where you are in the country. But as strange as it sounds, there is some meteorological logic to contrails hinting at upcoming weather. I’ll tell you why tomorrow.