Warm days not out of line for Carson City in February

By Geoff Dornan

Appeal Capitol Bureau

To some western Nevada residents, the past few days have seemed balmy, summer-like.

But according to Brian O'Hara, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno, it really isn't dramatically warmer than normal for early February.

He said the normal daytime highs for February are about 51 degrees with overnight lows about 25.

"So we're a little above normal," he said referring to highs in the mid-50s most of the weekend.

Monday was definitely warm at 61 degrees for western Nevada.

"It really does feel kind of warm since a week ago we had lows down to 16 degrees, 10 degrees below normal. So this almost feels like spring to a lot of people."

O'Hara said the weather will largely continue to be spring-like for the next week or so.

"We'll get a little cooler temperatures Wednesday after a cold front moves through with Wednesday's highs maybe in the mid-40s," he said. "So it'll feel cool after these highs in the lower 60s the last couple of days.

"It's kind of psychological," he said.

O'Hara said the warm daytime highs aren't hurting the snowpack in the Sierra, since nighttime lows are staying below freezing.

"We might have a little bit of evaporation during the day but it stays good at night," he said.

He said after a small cold front passes north of the area Wednesday, he expects high pressure to bring back warm days through the weekend before another small front "kind of brushes by to the north" next Monday or Tuesday.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.