The storm gate is opening back up this week, with a weaker system moving through late Wednesday into Thursday morning, and a stronger one late Friday into Saturday. Nothing major is lined up, but the second storm will be bigger than the first one and moderate in size. These will be colder storms with snow levels dropping to valley floors both Thursday and Saturday morning.
Majority of the snow will fall in the Sierra, with higher totals north of I-80 Thursday morning. Keep in mind the second storm is still several days away and the forecast will likely be tweaked here and there before then. Even a weak storm can cause some delays and impacts.
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High pressure is in place for now, but it will be quickly replaced by a little low coming in from the west late Wednesday. There will also be enough moisture to get some snow out of it.
The storm arrives around 10pm Wednesday night and will be out of here by Thursday afternoon. This is a fast moving storm with a few spotty showers possible on Thursday, but the main band will be gone by 11am.
Flurries are likely Thursday morning even below 5000’ in the Truckee Meadows, with up to an inch possible in the foothills. Most of the valley will see nothing more than a dusting. A dusting can cause a lot of crashes if you’re not careful though.
Valley snow will melt very quickly on Thursday with highs in the 40’s.
Snow totals will range from up to a dusting in the lower elevations, to 2-4 inches around Tahoe, 3-6 inches at Donner, and 4-7 inches at the crest. There will be some shadowing, so Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe won’t receive as much snow as say, Palisades and western Tahoe. The second storm will produce twice this amount in the Sierra, with a dusting possible in the valley Saturday morning again.
The storm in November really helped out our snowpack, as most of our basins are running close to median at this time. Reno usually sees its first measurable snow on November 22nd, one inch snowfall December 13th, and three inch snowfall January 10th. We've seen nearly a half inch of snowfall so far this season in Reno.Â
