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This forecast discussion was created in the public domain by the National Weather Service. It can be found in its original form here.

KEY MESSAGES

* Cooler north to northeast breezes prevail today, bringing localized areas of blowing dust in the Basin and Range.

* Relatively light winds with warming temperatures expected this weekend.

* A shift to a cooler and wetter pattern with stronger winds arrives next week, with increased chances of near or below average temperatures by the start of April.

DISCUSSION

Current wind gusts of up to 35 mph are bringing areas of blowing dust, mainly out in the Basin and Range today. Expect pockets of blowing dust to continue through at least sunset downwind of desert sinks. Visibility may be reduced; slow down and use caution while driving in areas of blowing dust.

Temperatures warm back up to the upper 70s and 60s for valleys and Sierra communities, respectively, this weekend. Light winds are also expected for most of this weekend. Some CAMs are picking up on the potential for some isolated showers in Mineral county tomorrow. Model soundings from Bridgeport, Coleville, and Hawthorne show slightly inverted-V profiles. Model CAPE values aren't impressive and with PWs of 0.3-0.4" or less, the potential for actual precip to hit the ground is quite low (<10%). The most this forecaster expects is some little cumulus cloud buildups and maybe some virga; forecast confidence for anything beyond that remains low.

The storm door opens for early next week with two rounds of Pacific storms possible as early as Monday into Tuesday and again Wednesday-Thursday. This first storm has trended weaker as model guidance has fluctuated in both timing and track of the storm. If that second storm does materialize over our area, this would be the colder of the two, helping to drop snow levels below 7000'. Gusty winds, mountain snow, and valley rain will be the name of the game once again with these systems. However, confidence remains low on the extent of the impacts of these systems, as well as the timing. Travel impacts are likely, both to air and ground travel from gusty winds and to travel over Sierra passes from potential snow accumulation.

-Giralte

AVIATION

VFR conditions prevail through much of this weekend. The only exception may be for far Basin and Range terminals (KNFL, KHTH) today due to localized areas of blowing dust from gusty surface winds. FL100 winds gust up to 35 kts today, bringing localized areas of LLWS and turbulence along the Sierra crest through tonight.

-Giralte

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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

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