Snow is not fun to drive in but we do need it in the Sierra this year. Hopefully an active start to November is only the beginning to a snowy winter season, but unfortunately there is no correlation between the two.
Regardless, I think we’ll take the feet of snow that fell in the mountains this week. Not a ton of snow fell in the valley, with most of it accumulating on grassy areas, but it was a much different situation in the Sierra.
The crest of the Sierra received anywhere between three to four feet of snow with this storm, and the Tahoe Basin picked up one to three. In general, the valley saw anywhere between two to five inches by Wednesday evening.
While the storm is now well out of the region, the cold air is here to stay through next week.
Lows Thursday morning ranged from the single digits to the lower 20s. Some outlying areas in the Sierra south of Tahoe even fell below zero Thursday morning.
The Reno Airport is usually the warmest spot on the map, and we got down to 22 degrees Thursday morning.
Friday morning will be very similar with temperatures falling well below freezing.
Where did fall go? Temperatures went from being fifteen degrees above average in the first half of October, to several degrees below average towards the end of October, and then twenty degrees below normal to start November. The average high this time of year in Reno is 59 degrees.
This weekend will be cold with highs in the 40s and a slight chance for rain and snow on Saturday. Stay warm and safe.
