Wild weather is returning to the region, with high winds, significant valley rain and heavy upper elevation snow…all this before the weekend arrives. A strong cold front with a powerful jet stream will move into the region starting Wednesday. Snow levels will be fairly high, possibly rising to 7,000′ or more Wednesday, and heavy high mountain snow will also mean heavy rain in the Lake Tahoe and Reno-Sparks areas. While there might be some localized street flooding thanks to snow blocking storm drains, it’s not likely the larger river will reach flooding stages, even though there will be some rises. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from late tonight through Thursday, with snow accumulations ranging from nothing in the valleys to several feet above 7,000′ by Thursday night.

A High Wind Warning for the valleys will now start early Wednesday morning and run through Thursday, accompanied by occasional heavy rain. Temperatures will climb to the low 50s Wednesday (with rain likely) and will gradually fall to the low 40s and upper 30s by the end of the weekend. There’s also a slight chance of some freezing rain early Wednesday if warm rain falls into trapped cold air prior to the winds breaking up the inversion.