textproduct: Reno

KEY MESSAGES

* Warm, above-average temperatures through today. Typical westerly breezes with low humidity and poor overnight RH recovery continues across W.Nevada mid-slopes.

* A series of cold fronts will bring 10-20 degrees of cooling over the weekend with gusty north winds and chances for light showers along the front on Sunday.

* A warming trend will bring a return of above average temperatures for the middle of next week.

DISCUSSION

Today is the final day of our warming trend, with afternoon zephyr winds up to 25 mph. The drying trend will linger into Saturday, with limited overnight recoveries ranging 30-40% across western Nevada.

The first of two cold frontal boundaries will arrive for Saturday, bringing cooler air and increasing winds. Saturday's high temperatures will range the lower 70s for western Nevada and mid 60s with northwest gusts reaching up to 25 mph. Sunday, even colder northerly winds with a secondary frontal boundary will drop temperatures even further to near 10-15 degrees below seasonal averages. Wind gusts out of the north will reach up to 40 mph, with the strongest gusts found south of US 50 and over Mineral and Mono counties. The uptick in winds and decline in temperatures will be noticeable to the outdoor enthusiast crowd, and may bring blowing dust and bumpy flights to travelers as well as choppy lakes across lakes such as Walker and Topaz lakes.

With the secondary front, rain and snow showers have a 10-20% chance of developing, with the Basin and Range having the best chances. Snow levels will drop to around 5500-6000 feet by early Sunday morning, along with the arrival of a 540mb dam thickness. This suggests some freezing may be present in elevations above 6000 feet, mostly for northwestern and north-central Nevada. An even colder start to Monday morning will be the last we see of the cold fronts, with warming and drying to resume Monday afternoon. Lows Monday morning could even dip into the low 20s and upper teens across the Sierra. HRICH

AVIATION

* VFR conditions return to the skies over western Nevada, northeastern California and the Sierra. Afternoon gusts to 20 kts possible today.

* Northerly winds will arrive Saturday, increasing with gusts to 25 kts Saturday, and up to 50 kts near KHTH on Sunday. Blowing dust may reduce surface visibilities on Sunday over KNFL, KLOL, and KHTH. Shower and snow chances will be greatest Sunday, with the best opportunity over the KLKN area. HRICH

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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