Expect to bundle up this weekend

Forget about shorts and the air conditioner, you may want to think about taking out a jacket this weekend.

Unseasonably cold temperatures will shock the region starting Saturday as a low pressure system ushers in a cold front from the Gulf of Alaska.

"And that's going to give us a rapid change in temperatures from record highs (on Wednesday) maybe to upper 60s to low 70s by Sunday," said Rhett Milne, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno. "It's going to be quite the shock to people."

The system is likely to bring scattered showers and some thunderstorms in the region, and "could even bring some snow flakes to elevations above 9,500 feet," Milne said.

The windy weather will continue today with gusts up to 35 mph. The NWS has issued a red flag warning because of the increased fire danger from high winds, dry conditions and the chance for lightning.

Once the system makes its way to the region, the low temperatures will fall to the upper 40s on Sunday and the upper 30s on Monday morning.

Milne said while the dramatic fall in temperature is rare for late August, "it will at least warm up pretty quickly afterwards."