textproduct: Reno

KEY MESSAGES

* Dry weather, light winds, and unseasonably warm temperatures continue through this weekend.

* Hazy skies and minor reductions in air quality possible each morning across lower urban valleys along with patchy freezing fog in Sierra basins.

* A pattern change is expected to take place Tuesday, bringing increased winds and slight chances for precipitation primarily to the Sierra and northeast California.

DISCUSSION

Fog is still hanging over the Tahoe Basin today, while fog near Truckee is lifting at the time of this writing. Expect fog to return to the Sierra valleys and Tahoe Basin tonight, since high pressure is firmly in place and the inversions associated remain as well. Fog this thick in and around the Tahoe Basin will deposit moisture on surfaces, making streets wet and potentially slick. Keep in mind if you plan to travel in these foggy areas that you may also encounter slick and wet roadways. Some areas around the Tahoe Basin are hovering near freezing this morning, so those wet roads may actually have pockets of icing, so drive carefully in and around foggy valleys.

Elsewhere in western Nevada, the inversions are keeping smog in the valleys through the weekend. Above the inversions, clear skies, dry weather and above average high temperatures will also be here through the weekend. Our first glimpse at a change in the pattern arrives early next week, as the ridge advances eastward, allowing for a trough to migrate toward the region.

The trends with this system are that the snow levels will be high, last night's forecast had them 9000-9500 feet, and today's newest model runs are indicating snow levels as high as 9500-10000+ feet. Another trend in this forecast has been the timing, which was initially Monday, but now late Tuesday into Wednesday. All of this to say that exact details of precipitation types, amounts, temperatures and even timing will still need some fine tuning as we get closer in time to the event.

As we traverse our next work week leading into the holiday, the storm door appears to be open for business. If the outlooks for the 24th and 25th hold true, there could be ample moisture and colder temperatures that could bring meaningful precipitation to the Sierra. HRICH

AVIATION

* FZFG has lifted from KTRK but will return this evening. As for KTVL, FZFG will be around through the majority of the afternoon, as the cloud layer appears to be denser than previous days.

* KRNO, KCXP and KMEV all have slantwise visibility concerns through the period due to inversions. HRICH

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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