The wet storm that dropped about a quarter inch of rain in Carson City on Thursday is expected to hang around until Monday, bringing snow to the valley floor by the weekend.
The elongated storm trough stretched from the Oregon coast to Baja, Calif., according to meteorologist Kyle Mozley with the National Weather Service in Reno.
"The snow level dropped to lake level at 11 a.m." Thursday at Lake Tahoe, Mozley said. "The storm drew a lot of moisture from the southeast Pacific, which is why the snow levels are so high.
"What we got is mostly what we should see in the summer. But the ski resorts are loving it."
Mozley said snow levels are at least at the 7,000-foot level.
A second storm, not as wet, will move in today and be active into Saturday with a third to move in Sunday evening.
"Friday's storm will be another fairly warm storm, but with not as much moisture to work with so not as much precipitation will fall," Mozley said.
"The main storm comes in Sunday night and into Monday, dropping from the Gulf of Alaska. It is much cooler and has a decent tap of moisture. It will bring about mostly travel issues by putting the snow level at the valley floor by Monday."
Mozley said the average precipitation for the Carson City area is roughly 1.92 inches for January.
"The snow will definitely help in the higher elevations, some areas could see 1-2 feet of snow above 8,000 feet," Mozley said.
"The hydrologist said we're (eastern Sierra) sitting at 60 percent of normal on snowpack. With these snow storms coming through, it could put that figure to the high 60s or about 70 percent (of normal). But we're still below where we need to be."
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- Contact Rhonda Costa at rcosta@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.