Snow cover and high pressure over western Nevada has trapped cold air in the valleys and produced strong valley inversions that will slowly worsen air quality as pollutants build in the western Nevada valleys, according to the National Weather Service, which has issued an Air Quality Alert for Carson City, Carson Valley and the Reno-Sparks area.
High pressure is forecast to remain over the area most of this week, keeping the inversion and light winds in place. This high will produce warming above 6,000 feet which prevents the cold stable air in the valleys from escaping, according to the weather service in Reno. Some improvement may occur Friday as low pressure passes to the north, but inversions should redevelop for the weekend.
The air quality will likely be worse in Washoe County where the health department there issued a red burn ban for Reno, Sparks and Southern Washoe County from Washoe Valley to Silver Knolls. All residential, commercial and open burning is prohibited in these Washoe County areas until air quality improves.
Meanwhile, Monday morning's below-zero temperatures did not set a record for Carson City. The weather service's observation data collected -11 degrees in South Carson City at the fire station and -8 degrees at the Carson City Airport. The record low for the date was -16.
CarsonWeather.com reports Monday morning's low temperature was recorded at 7:25 a.m. at -10.4 degrees, the coldest in 2013.