Adam Trumble/Nevada Appeal
Christmas Eve morning in Carson City.
Christmas Eve in Carson City came with bursts of wind and rain, but Christmas Day was expected to be drier and sunnier with snowfall limited to the mountains, according to a Tuesday forecast by the National Weather Service.
“This morning and early afternoon (roughly 4 a.m. through 2 p.m.) will feature this storm's greatest wind and snow impacts before weather conditions improve during the afternoon and evening as the storm departs,” the NWS reported. “Be prepared for moderate to heavy snowfall to make holiday travel much more difficult in and across the Sierra today with strong winds impacting air travel and driving conditions (especially for high-profile vehicles) in the Sierra and Sierra Front.”
Current road conditions can be accessed at https://www.nvroads.com/.
Snow levels were expected to dip to from 7,000 feet to 5,500 feet by Tuesday afternoon. The NWS forecast 8-16 inches of snow along the Sierra Crest by Christmas morning, with Lake Tahoe communities likely seeing 1-3 inches at lake level. Western Nevada foothills could still see a dusting of snow, the NWS said, but a white Christmas looked improbable for valley floors.
“The weather outside on Christmas Day will be much less frightful as dry, albeit a tad chilly conditions prevail,” according to the NWS. “A series of quick-moving troughs will maintain periods of increased winds and showers Thursday into the weekend. The weather pattern keeps us mostly on the warmer side of these storms, so mild temps and higher snow levels are favored. A colder, stronger storm is possible around the (29th, but after that a drier pattern will likely help us ring in the new year.”
The NWS projected the low for Christmas Eve night to be around 20 degrees Fahrenheit with the clearing storm, and Christmas Day temperatures reaching the mid-40s in sunnier weather.
According to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, utilizing snow telemetry data, the Carson River Basin was, as of Tuesday, at 98 percent of the median snowpack for this time of year. The Lake Tahoe Basin was at 106 percent overall, the Truckee River Basin at 112 percent, and the Walker River Basin at 94 percent of normal.