textproduct: Reno

KEY MESSAGES

* A slow, gradual warming trend will bring back some valley inversions this week. * A weak weather system may bring chances for light snow showers, mainly along the Sierra Crest mid-to-late next week.

DISCUSSION

A cold start today as the backdoor cold front gave a glancing blow along the Sierra Front. The frigid airmass has it's sights set on the East Coast, so it will be on it's way out of here as of this afternoon. Highs today will reach upper 40s across western Nevada valleys while some Sierra communities will reach the low to mid 40s. So, as we resume a gradual trend to a warmer high pressure regime once again, and the winds relax this morning, we will start to see the inversions build into valleys once again.

This ridging pattern will come with some caveats in the form of shortwaves that will occasionally break the monotony of the pattern. This week, a weak shortwave will bring a tiny uptick in winds for Tuesday, and by tiny we mean gusts only to 30 mph on the ridges. The wave will be barely noticeable except for some light snow showers along the Sierra Crest for Wednesday and cloudy skies across the region. Once that shortwave feature moves out of the area, we return to our regularly scheduled forecast of slow, gradual warming and light winds that will allow for the inversions to set up.

The rest of the week then looks benign until the next weekend when another shortwave takes shape on the horizon. Our opportunities for new snowfall look meager throughout the end of January and into the beginning of February. HRICH

AVIATION

* Light winds this morning will linger through the day as VFR conditions are widespread. With the recent dry air, fog development will be limited, and therefore not expected for KTRK (<5%). HRICH

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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