Freezing rain can be very dangerous, and parts of the country are still stuck in the freezer Monday after a significant storm moved through over the weekend. In Northern Nevada, we don’t get very much freezing rain or sleet, it’s usually either rain or snow. Rarely do we get something else.
A few weeks ago, there was the possibility of freezing rain in the mountains, but it was pretty localized in the Sierra. Freezing rain occurs when you have a large melting layer, with a shallow layer of cold temperatures near and around the ground. Which means the precipitation falls as rain, and freezes with contact on the surface. Ice storms not only create travel problems, but can also lead to power outages and down trees. A half inch of ice is crippling.Â
Sleet forms when you have a snowflake that partially melts, then refreezes. The melting layer is smaller than it is with freezing rain, with a larger cold layer near the surface. Much of the midsouth saw both sleet and freezing rain over the weekend. The sleet was a saving grace for some states, including Georgia and North Carolina. Parts of Tennessee and Mississippi saw reports of around a quarter of an inch of freezing rain, with localized spots seeing around a half inch.
If Reno sees any freezing rain, it’s more than likely freezing drizzle from Pogonip or freezing fog. A forecaster would think if there is warm air coming up over a cold pocket of air, trapped in the valley we could get freezing rain, if the cold layer is shallow enough, but for whatever reason, this usually never happens. Wind tends to scour out the cold air.
Heavy snow topples trees.Â
A few years ago, we wound up getting lots of snow opposed to lots of rain around New Years because of cold air getting trapped in the valley. The depth of the cold air was tall enough to get snow opposed to sleet or freezing rain.
