Cold air that will push its way into the Carson City area tonight through Tuesday is ahead of a potentially wet atmospheric river system that looks like it may impact northeast California, the eastern Sierra, and western Nevada with rain and snow Thursday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
Confidence is moderate that significant precipitation will fall, especially in the Sierra and north of Highway 50, forecasters say. As far as snow amounts and snow levels, confidence is considerably lower as a warm front will wash over the region Thursday, affecting the timing of snow turning to rain.
Snow on Thursday could turn to rain first in the Sierra, at least below 8,000 feet, with the lower valleys of western and especially west-central Nevada holding onto cold air longer.
To complicate the weather situation further, there is a low chance for a brief period of freezing rain Thursday for west-central Nevada including Lovelock, Fallon, and the Interstate 80 corridor from about Fernley east. After the warm up on Thursday, a cold front pushes through the region Friday, once again lowering snow levels, according to the weather service.
Meanwhile, temperatures will be cooling down quite a bit around Carson City, Carson Valley and Dayton areas. Daytime highs Monday will be in the upper 40s, lows in the low 20s; Tuesday's high is around 40, with a nighttime low in the mid-teens; Wednesday's daytime high will be in the low 30s, warming up into Thursday into the 40s as the next weather system moves in.