A weather system moving through Carson City and surrounding counties will bring strong, gusty and damaging winds, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a High Wind Watch late Tuesday through Wednesday evening.
For today, a Lake Wind Advisory has been issued for Lake Tahoe from 10 a.m. Monday through 1 a.m. Tuesday. Wind gusts up to 35 mph expected on the lake with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet, according to the weather service.
As the system moves into the region, impacts are expected throughout western Nevada, with winds southwest 30 mph to 40 mph and gusts up to 60 mph. Wind prone areas along US-395 may see gusts up to 70 to 80 mph with ridgetop gusts up to 100 mph, NWS forecasters said.
The weather service warns the potential for damaging winds could blow down trees and may knock down burned trees in the Davis Fire burn area. As with last week's system, the wind could knock trees and limbs into power lines that may cause widespread power outages. Travel could be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.
NWS advises now is the time to secure loose outdoor items such as patio furniture, holiday decorations, and trash cans before winds increase which could blow these items away. The best thing to do is prepare ahead of time by making sure you have extra food and water on hand, flashlights with spare batteries and/or candles in the event of a power outage.
Gusty winds, high elevation snow and valley rain
The main storm pivots through the region Wednesday and will bring periods of strong winds, wetting rain and high elevation snow with the main concern being the strong winds and associated impacts that begin late Tuesday evening.
With the storm's current timing, the strongest winds would likely happen in the early to mid-morning hours on Wednesday from US-50 northward, then continue through the afternoon south of US-50. Areas of blowing dust will also become a concern for parts of northwest and west central Nevada, mainly downwind of deserts and sinks, forecasters said.
At this time NWS forecasters say the notable snowfall will likely be confined to elevations above 8,000 feet where odds of 4 inches or more of total snowfall reaches up to 90 percent. While this storm isn't expected to bring large amounts of snow, there may be some travel disruptions through Carson, Ebbetts, Tioga and Sonora passes.
Elsewhere, wetting rain is likely west of US-395 with potential for 1 to 1.5 inches of liquid along the Sierra crest west of Tahoe northward to far western Lassen County in California. Precipitation amounts drop off quickly going eastward with possibly a short period of rain during the day Wednesday into the Reno, Carson City and Carson Valley areas with west central Nevada and eastern Mono County staying mostly dry.
Rain and snow should taper off Thursday and Friday, forecasters said. From then on, high pressure will rebuild across the western states, returning warmer and mostly dry weather for the weekend.