NWS Reno Blog

Welcome readers!

NWS Reno is venturing out into the world of blogging. Our goal is to provide a resource for the science behind the forecast, random explanations of weather phenomena/factoids, and anything else that we deem interesting with respect to the atmosphere that affects the Sierra and western Nevada. We hope to post a blog entry once a week, perhaps a bit more frequently as interesting topics arise.

For those of you who aren't as familiar with us, the National Weather Service in Reno is responsible for a portion of  eastern California that spans from the Surprise Valley and Lassen County to the Lake Tahoe area and southward to Mammoth Lakes. Across western Nevada, our responsibilities cover Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey and Washoe Counties.  The map below shows our forecast area outlined in black.



We issue new forecasts twice a day, typically around 3 am and 3 pm. Yep we're up all night, 365 days a year to bring you the latest weather updates. If high impact weather is changing rapidly, we will update the forecast much more frequently. You can find our official products, forecasts and warnings at weather.gov/reno. You can also interact with us on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

This blog should not be utilized as your sole resource for decision making or even what to wear for the day. It is designed to be a creative and fun outlet for weather across our amazing and very unique forecast area. We encourage you to provide feedback, questions, or comments by emailing us at nws.reno@noaa.gov

In weather news, it is going to be warm the rest of this week with afternoon highs climbing into the 60s for the weekend. We could be in store for a pattern change by the middle of next week.

In the next blog we will highlight some of the tools that we have available to examine the potential for pattern changes, the probabilities of it occurring and what weather may result.

Popular posts from this blog

NWS Wind Forecasts: AKA What's the Deal With Friction?

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We have had a number of comments on social media which mention much lower observed wind speeds locally than are in the forecast. Well, you are unlikely to know this (it is not exactly advertised!) but National Weather Service wind forecasts are for 10 meters, or almost 33 ft, above the ground. As we are about to explain, that makes all the difference in the wind between eye-level (~5-6 feet) and ~33 feet.  It is natural to wonder the purpose of a wind height forecast well above where you and I typically reside. The main reason for this is the complication in forecasting wind as one nears the ground due to frictional influence caused by the surface. Here is a diagram showing the concept of wind speeds change as one gets away from the ground.  As you can see above, there is a rapid speed reduction (gray dashed line) near the ground with a lesser change away from the surface. Note that the above diagram is generalized. How much reduction is realized depends on the nature of the surface wh
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What is the Rain Shadow and What's Wind Gotta do With It?

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The dreaded rain shadow - something that those of us who live east of the Sierra crest are more than familiar with and hate to hear. So what is this rain shadow and why does it even exist? Lets start with the topography just to our west... The Sierra Nevada mountain range runs 400 miles from north-to-south and is approximately 70 miles wide. It includes the highest peak in the lower 48, Mt Whitney at 14,505 feet, and rises above 10,000 feet in many locations. Left: The Sierra Nevada Mountains highlighted in blue. Right: A relief map showing elevation (in meters) of the Sierra. The Sierra are a significant barrier for Pacific storms which typically move from west to east. The movement of air masses and associated weather cannot go through the mountains and is forced up and over the mountain range. As Pacific moisture is driven eastward by the wind, the air mass is lifted up and over the Sierra. Rising air will cool and once it reaches the point of saturation, condense into
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Forecasting "Dry Microburst" Potential From Soundings and Observations

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Summer afternoons in the valleys of eastern California and western Nevada usually feature dry low level relative humidity. In certain cases where low levels are very dry (single digit relative humidities) and enough instability for showers and/or thunderstorms exists, there is the heightened possibility for severe (over 60 mph) outflow winds. Now, severe winds are possible from strong thunderstorms in many cases, even without very dry surface relative humidity. However, what makes very dry surface or low level conditions special is that severe outflow winds are possible even with w eak  convection such as light showers...or even just cumulus clouds! When severe winds are produced by convection with little or no rainfall reaching the ground, it is referred to as a "dry microburst". Microbursts can be of significant danger to aviation and, if they are strong enough, life and property. Before we move onto what conditions we look for to determine the threat for dry microbursts,
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