Spring weather finally in Nevada forecast; 70 in Reno Sunday

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The tail end of another Sierra storm brought 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) of new snow to the mountains above Lake Tahoe and winds gusting in excess of 100 mph (161 kph) over ridgetops. But spring weather is finally in the forecast with a warming trend that should push highs to near 70 F (21 C) by the weekend in Reno.

Nearly 7 inches (18 centimeters) of snow fell Sunday night into Monday at UC-Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab west of Truckee, California, where the season total of 722 inches (18.4 meters) is now double the normal amount for the whole winter — 360 inches (9.2 meters), the lab said Monday.

Ten inches (25 cm) of new snow was reported at Homewood ski resort on Lake Tahoe’s west shore and a 121 mph (195 kph) gust of wind was recorded atop Mt. Rose halfway between Tahoe and Reno, the National Weather Service said.

A winter weather advisory was set to expire Monday evening in northeast Nevada but snow showers were expected to continue on Tuesday in the Elko area before warmer weather pushes into the region, with highs reaching into the 50s (12 C) there by Saturday.

Unusually cold weather has maintained a grip on Nevada statewide since December, including Las Vegas, which recorded its coldest March since 1991 with an average temperature of 54.4 degrees (12.5 C) — nearly 6 degrees (3 C) below normal, the weather service said.

In Reno, the March average of 38.9 (4 C) was— 7 degrees (3.4 C) colder than normal, the service said.

Party cloudy skies were forecast in Reno through the rest of the week with highs steadily warming from near 40 (4.4 C) Tuesday to 60 (15.6 C) Thursday and from 65 to 75 (18.3 to 24 C) by Sunday, the service said.

A similar warming trend is expected in Las Vegas with sunny skies and highs in the mid-50s (12.8 C) Tuesday to the mid-70s (24 C) Friday and as high as 85 (30 C) on Sunday.