Occasional thunderstorms to remain in valley until next week

An unstable weather pattern will remain in central Nevada through next week with a chance of afternoon rain and thunderstorms.

The National Weather Service in Reno said a low that hovered over South Lake Tahoe this week has begun moving east. After a week of sporadic rain and thunderstorms, the weather service said Churchill County should see sunny skies on Saturday with a return of scattered or isolated showers through Wednesday. The forecast mirror the outlook for other communities in western Nevada. The weather service said .21 inch of rain was recorded at Naval Air Station Fallon on Wednesday, but 45 miles east of Fallon at Middlegate, the NWS reported half an inch of rain fell.

Fallon will see a 20 percent chance of precipitation on Friday. Highs for the next five days will range from the low to mid 70s with lows in the 40s. The NWS, though, warns motorists of road ponding and isolated flooding in low-lying areas associated with the thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, the weather forecast looks bleaker for the weekend at Reno and Carson City. Thunderstorms are predicted for the weekend, and the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association said inclement weather could postpone softball and baseball games at the state championship tournaments in Reno, and possibly the state track championship at Carson High School.

The NWS is not expecting any low-level flooding along streams and the Carson River below the dam. Lahontan Reservoir’s level, though, continues to increase because of precipitation and snow melt in the Sierra Nevada, nearing 283,000 acre-feet. Last year at this time, the level was over 206,000 acre-feet, but excess water from the reservoir had been released through an emergency weir and spillway along the V-line canal to Sheckler Reservoir and the Navy’s Bravo 16 training range and then under US. Highway 95 south of Pasture Road to Carson Lake and the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge.