Gray days ahead

Snow began sticking to the roofs of cars Tuesday afternoon and even to the sweatshirts of employees Chris Piche, 15, and Mario Angulo, 16, of Red's Old 395 Grill, as they loaded firewood onto a cart for the brick-oven pizzas served inside.

"I want it to be sunny," Chris said, the hood of his black Raiders sweatshirt pulled deep over his head and its arms stretched out over part of his hands.

He planned to return inside and leave pink-cheeked Mario, a busboy, with the task of transporting wood.

The two teenagers weren't the only ones caught off guard by the wet weather system expected to drop up to 2 inches of snow by 6 this morning. People could be seen throughout the afternoon pulling hoods up over their heads as they headed outdoors.

No serious snow accumulations are predicted to fall over the next several days. According to Jim Fischer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, a weak storm off the coast is responsible for the week's wet weather.

"We are getting reports of snow falling in the valley areas, especially down near Carson and the Minden and Gardnerville areas," he said Tuesday afternoon.

The precipitation was expected to fall sporadically through the night, with larger accumulations at elevations above 5,000 feet.

"The pattern is pretty unsettled," Fischer said. "We'll sort of see on-and-off snow showers for the next several days, but nothing too heavy, mostly shower-type precipitation."

Tuesday's high temperature of 44 degrees dipped below average mid-February highs in the low-50s. The predicted high for today is 47.

"Tuesday was below normal with the clouds and the showery weather," Fischer said. "The last couple of days (before that) have been near normal."

The overcast weather will continue through today with a chance of rain or snow showers. Cloudy gray weather is predicted through the weekend.

"It's a fairly large system off the West Coast," Fischer said. "It's stationary and creating a flow of moisture from the south."

n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.