Snow can cause problems for travelers, not only in the winter season, but also in fall and spring.
It’s not unheard of for it to snow in the Sierra during the month of May, but it’s usually fairly light.
For the first time in recent history, the National Weather Service Reno issued a Winter Storm Warning during the month of May. It went from Saturday morning through Sunday morning as a strong cold front moved through.
Snow has a harder time sticking when the sun angle is higher. The sun angle is higher in May, but if it snows hard enough, it can still stick during the day.
This tells you how heavy the snow was this weekend. If the ground was colder, conditions would have been even worse along I-80 over the weekend.
Snow totals ranged from 10 inches in Tahoe City, to over a foot in the high Sierra. Palisades Tahoe received just over two feet of snow this weekend at the summit. Eight inches fell at the base. Lassen Peak got just under three feet of snow.
It’s been a cold weekend too. Highs on Sunday were in the 40s and 50s, which is roughly 20 degrees below average.
April 27 is the average date Reno sees its last freeze. Freezes are possible in the Truckee Meadows Monday morning, especially in the foothills, where even a hard freeze is possible.
Luckily, warmer air moves in this week, allowing highs to reach 70 degrees by Thursday.
Winds will get lighter too. The wind chill or feel-like temperature on Sunday was in the 30s for Reno, as wind gusts were in the 30s as well.
