Gloom continues - rain expected today, tomorrow

First it was the heat. Now it's the rain.

As of Tuesday morning, Carson City had soaked up 2.4 inches of rain in three days, according to the National Weather Service in Reno. The October rainfall average is .69 inches. The annual average in the capital is 10.35 inches.

It was just a week ago when temperatures in the region were soaring near 95 degrees compared to a season average in the high 70s. The last four days of September and Oct. 1 shattered heat records at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport with temperatures climbing to 96.

But by Tuesday mid-afternoon, temperatures in region were in the mid 40s.

It had National Weather Service meteorologist Dawn Fishler asking, "What is normal for this time of year?"

"Basically (Carson City) had somewhere between a fourth or a fifth of their (annual) rainfall in the past three to four days," Fishler said.

The rainfall is expected to continue today and tomorrow with a possibility of isolated thunderstorms. The storms will taper off by the weekend with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70s.

Meanwhile, more than an inch of rain, 1.09, fell at Reno-Tahoe International Airport on Monday, shattering the old record of 0.23 set in 1994.

Snow forced the closure of California Highway 89 at Monitor Pass south of Tahoe on Tuesday. Chains were required on the Mount Rose Highway connecting Reno to Incline Village.

Another 2 to 4 inches of snow was expected above 8,000 feet in the Sierra, where 1 to 3 inches had been recorded by Tuesday morning.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report