Record Breaking Cold Wednesday Morning

A second cold front moved through the Truckee Meadows Tuesday dropping temperatures once again. Along with clear skies, light winds, and a cool air mass temperatures will drop quickly Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Lows will range from the single digits in the hills to the teens closer to the Reno Airport. This will put us about twenty degrees below normal for this time of year. Highs Wednesday will be in the mid 50’s with lots of sunshine. 

The atmosphere is comprised of a variety of different layers with different temperatures and pressures throughout. At the surface a cold front is moving south of the area and in the upper atmosphere a trough is in moving in from the northeast. The low in the upper atmosphere will slowly lift to the northeast throughout the remainder of the week. As the low leaves, temperatures will slowly warm. For now it will be cold with lows Wednesday morning in the teens and single digits. Thursday morning will be a few degrees warmer. Halloween will be chilly but not terrible. Highs will be in the mid 50’s, and temperatures will be in the 40’s at trick or treating time. Highs will be in the 60’s this weekend.

Much of the country will see temperatures about twenty to thirty degrees below normal Wednesday morning. We could break a few records too. The Reno Airport would have to get down to thirteen degrees to tie the record, and the forecast is sixteen. Carson City and South Tahoe has a better chance of breaking records. 

Dry air tends to cool off quicker at night while warmer air holds more moisture.  You know it is dry when dewpoints fall below zero. It’s been a dry month and fire danger is critical in California. We’ve only received a trace of an inch of rain so far this month, which is one of the driest Octobers on record in Reno. Winds will be light in Reno Wednesday, but they will still be strong at times in California. Anytime the wind comes out of the east it accelerates as it goes over the hill. What we really need is some rain, but it looks like we’ll stay dry for at least the next week or so. Have a great day!