textproduct: Reno

KEY MESSAGES

* Strong wind gusts with a dry cold front will continue through the evening, before decreasing overnight.

* A system will bring cooler temperatures with highs dropping between 5 to 10 degrees below average by Sunday and Monday.

* 20-40% chance for rain and light high elevation snow showers (>9,000') across the eastern Sierra and western Nevada Sunday night into Monday afternoon.

DISCUSSION

A dry cold front will continue to track across NE California and NW Nevada today, providing widespread gusty winds and critical fire weather conditions. Max wind gusts observed so far today have generally ranged between 30-45 mph with localized higher gusts over 50 mph across Sierra, Plumas, and Lassen Counties where the front is currently progressing through.

Expect continued wind impacts to outdoor recreation, including hazardous boating conditions on area lakes. Transportation impacts include cross-wind hazards for high profile vehicles, as well as turbulence and wind shear for aviation.

Surface winds will begin to weaken this evening but remain gusty across the ridgetops with gusts of 60-70 mph persisting through Saturday night. Otherwise winds will remain breezy with afternoon gusts of around 20-25 mph through the weekend. Temperatures will cool to season averages by Saturday, before cooling an additional 5 degrees on Sunday, then reaching 5-10 degrees below average by Monday with highs in the low 70s across W.Nevada with mid-60s for Sierra valleys. Also, Sierra valleys on Monday and Tuesday morning have likely chances for below freezing temperatures.

Light precipitation chances have trended higher in the last 24 hours with overall 20-40% chances across western NV and the E.Sierra Sunday night into Monday afternoon. Snow levels with this low will drop to around 8,500-9,000 feet, with about a 20% chance for an isolated snow shower to deliver up to an inch of snowfall for the highest peaks (>9,500') in Mono County.

Ensemble guidance suggests an area of high pressure rebuilding across the region after mid-week. This will introduce a warming trend, with temperatures back above average by Wednesday. Dry weather looks to persist Tuesday through next weekend. Fuentes

AVIATION

Areas of turbulence and LLWS will continue today as a dry cold front tracks across W.Nevada today. Surface winds between 15-20 kts with gusts of 25-35 kts are expected to continue through 03Z this evening; however, FL100 winds will remain elevated, 35-45kts through Saturday night, resulting in increased mountain wave turbulence and LLWS. Areas of blowing dust are possible this afternoon for KNFL and KLOL, with visibilities down to 3SM. Fuentes/McKellar

FIRE WEATHER

Critical fire weather concerns continue this afternoon and early evening as a dry cold front sweeps through the area. Observations have reported wind gusts of 30-45 mph thus far with over 50 mph gusts observed across portions of Plumas and Lassen County.

Red Flag Warnings remain in effect through this evening for the Sierra Front and W.Nevada fire zones as gusty wind combine with minimum RH of 10-20% today. The incoming front has increased afternoon RH between 20-30% across E.Sierra and NE California areas this afternoon, helping to mitigate widespread critical fire weather concerns. Fuentes

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

NV...Lake Wind Advisory until 8 PM PDT this evening NVZ002>004.

Red Flag Warning until 10 PM PDT this evening NVZ420-421.

Red Flag Warning until 10 PM PDT this evening NVZ423-429.

CA...Lake Wind Advisory until 8 PM PDT this evening CAZ071>073.