Peak wind gusts top 70mph in parts of the Sierra and snow falls in the mountains as well

Northern Nevada is a windy area, and the storm that moved through Thursday through Saturday produced wind gusts well over 40mph for much of the area. A location one mile northwest of Mammoth Mountain clocked a wind gust of 100mph late Friday morning. Not as strong as the wind gusts in the Sierra but still strong, the Reno Airport saw a peak wind gust of 49 miles per hour.

Friday was the windiest day out of the three, but Thursday was windy as well. A strong cold front moved through early Saturday dropping temperatures into the 50’s and 60’s, which is roughly twenty degrees below average. Reno went from 96 degrees on Wednesday, to 92 degrees on Thursday, 80 on Friday, and finally to 63 degrees on Saturday. We went from swimming and wearing summerlike clothes on Thursday to wearing jackets and fall clothes on Saturday. Temperature is related to pressure, and pressure is related to wind speed. The bigger the change in pressure or temperature the stronger the wind speed will be. Fire danger was critical on Thursday and Friday because of strong winds and low relative humidity. On Friday, southern Washoe County was on the underside of the low, centered over the Pacific Northwest. This location gave us a southwest wind direction, keeping the air dry. This wind direction is also favorable for enhanced wind speeds, especially in the afternoon and evening.

As the front moved southeast and the upper level low deepened over the west coast relative humidity values rose and wind speeds lowered. It even snowed in the high Sierra including Palisades Tahoe and Donner on Saturday. Nothing measurable fell at the Reno Airport, but parts of northern Nevada saw some rain as well. Highs on Saturday were only in the 50’s and 60’s, with lows in the 30’s and 40’s. Sunday will be warmer with more sunshine.

The cloud cover kept temperatures from warming on Saturday as well. The upper level low is found on top of warmer ground temperatures, allowing the air to rise. Like popcorn, the instability allowed showers and storms to form on Saturday. A few showers or storms are possible on Sunday as well, mainly in the Sierra. It will be swimming weather again by Wednesday.