textproduct: Reno

KEY MESSAGES

* Smoke from local wildfires may lead to periods of degraded air quality across the Reno area, Tahoe Basin, and eastern Sierra today.

* Dry and breezy conditions prevail today with a slight cooldown and a shift from west to north winds.

* Plan on dry conditions through the weekend with the possibility of rain and thunderstorm chances returning to the Sierra south of Tahoe early next week.

DISCUSSION

* Drier and breezier conditions follow on the back side of the upper trough venturing eastward today. The main concern with a dry, cool front passing through will be a shift from west/southwest winds to north winds around midday with gusts up to 25 mph for most areas. Ridge winds may reach up to 40 mph, particularly in the afternoon as the north winds with the front pass through the region. Winds will likely "slosh" around any lingering smoke and haze from nearby wildfires. Lighter, more easterly winds overnight may bank up any remaining bits of smoke/haze against the foothills. For air quality concerns and information, refer to fire.airnow.gov

* There won't be a significant dip in the temperatures, but rather a slowdown in the warming trend as we head into the weekend. While temperatures today will remain a bit below normal, a shortwave ridge over the Sierra and western Nevada for the weekend will allow temperatures to climb into the low 80s for the lower valley areas. Temperatures will "hit the brakes" again by Monday and Tuesday as the ridge exits and another low passes across central CA. While there is uncertainty with this cut-off low, we may see a return of precipitation potential across the southern tier of the region (5-15% chances Mono/Mineral counties) as it slowly passes through from Monday into Tuesday. * Ensemble clusters from Wednesday - Saturday show signals for a Pacific Northwest trough setting up off the coast, but there are variations in its progression. Blended guidance for the last weekend in September do show some increased potential for precipitation, but that will all be driven by when/how the large trough moves across the area. Plan on typical late September temperatures for now with a slight lean toward precipitation chances for next weekend.

-Edan

AVIATION

* Smoke and visibility impacts: Smoke from nearby wildfires (Floriston fire west of Reno and Dome fire west of Yosemite) may impact slantwise visibility today at KMMH, KTRK, KTVL, and KRNO. * Winds: Wind direction will gradually shift today with W/SW winds in the morning banking to N and NE winds by the late afternoon and evening. Winds will generally remain light with gusts 20-25kts possible after 20z.

* Winds will become light and easterly for late Friday into Saturday with dry and VFR conditions.

-Edan

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

NV...None. CA...None.