The National Weather Service in Reno has issued a flash flood watch for portions of California and Nevada, including the Little Valley and Emerald Fire burn scars.
* Timing - from 2 am Friday through 5 pm Friday
* Locations: Surprise Valley, California-Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra counties-greater Lake Tahoe area-Mono County-Mineral and Southern Lyon Counties-greater Reno-Carson City-Minden area-western Nevada Basin and range including Pyramid Lake
Northern Washoe County-
including the cities of Cedarville, Eagleville, Fort Bidwell, Portola, Susanville, Westwood, Sierraville, Loyalton, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, Truckee, Markleeville, Bridgeport, Coleville, Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes, Hawthorne, Yerington, Smith Valley, Mina, Schurz, Stateline, Glenbrook, Incline Village, Sparks, Verdi, Gardnerville, Virginia City, Fernley, Fallon, Lovelock, Silver Springs, Nixon, Imlay, Empire, Gerlach
Two storms will affect the region for the end of the week and through the weekend - the first Thursday into Friday...and the second Saturday night into Sunday.
Here is a summary of what to expect:
*** STORM ONE – THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ***
* Heavy rainfall will likely cause travel delays especially for those crossing the Sierra. The peak period for heaviest rainfall looks to be early Friday morning. Rain will spillover into western Nevada as well so be prepared for a slower commute Friday morning with ponding water on roadways possible.
* A major concern will be heavy rain causing debris flows or rock slides on recent burn scars. Anyone with interests near the Emerald Fire, Little Valley Fire or Marina Fire burn scars should be prepared. Rises on rivers are also likely, but flooding is not expected on mainstem rivers.
* Snow levels will be generally 9,500 to 10,000 feet with only the highest passes such as Tioga and Sonora impacted. Heavy wet snow will rapidly accumulate on sierra peaks above 10,000 feet.
*** STORM TWO - SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY ***
* Heavy rain with higher elevation snow. Snow levels are expected to start around 7,000 to 8,500 feet Sunday morning falling to 6,000 to 7,500 feet by Sunday afternoon. Snow levels may lower an additional 500 feet by Sunday night. Periods of snow are possible on all Sierra passes Sunday and it is best to prepare for travel delays and chain controls.
* Rain will once again spillover into western Nevada but will not be as heavy as with the first storm.
* Winds: Sierra ridges gusting 80 to 90 mph with valleys gusting 30 to 35 mph.
Advice: if you need to travel - the best window will be from roughly Friday night through Saturday afternoon with just lingering rain showers.
Continue to check weather.gov/reno for updates.
You can stay up to date on weather in our area with our KTVN Storm Watch weather app.
The app gives you forecast information, like radar, storm tracking and more for any location in the country, all in the palm of your hand. You can download it for free for your iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone. Just search KTVN in the iTunes or Google Play Store.
