The first decent winter storm of the season looks impressive enough so that the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the mountains around Lake Tahoe, from Mid-day Friday through Saturday. For the valley, Strong winds will create a strong rain shadow, and any showers we get will likely be contained to the west side of the valley. Reno’s high temperatures will fall to the upper 50s Friday then continue to drop to the lower 50s Saturday (with rain likely early Saturday) and the all the way into the upper 40s Sunday and Monday.

For the mountains, the snow level will be about 7,000’ Friday, and will then drop to around Lake Tahoe level on Saturday. Snow amounts will vary greatly depending on elevation, but the areas above 7,000’ could receive a foot or more snow, with Lake Tahoe receiving anywhere between 3-6” by the end of the weekend.

On Sunday, a second colder storm will come through the region, dropping snow levels close to the valley floors, although I don’t expect accumulations below the middle elevations of the foothills.