Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Reno, NV
Issued by NWS Reno, NV
566 FXUS65 KREV 292124 AFDREV Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Reno NV 124 PM PST Sat Nov 29 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... * Cooler temperatures near seasonal averages will continue through early next week with increasing ridge winds tonight and Sunday. * Dry conditions prevail through Monday, except for a few snow flurries brushing across northwest NV Sunday morning. * Additional weak weather systems bring periods of breezy winds and light shower chances Tuesday through Wednesday, with colder than average temperatures Wednesday and Thursday. && .DISCUSSION... Valley inversions were more robust this morning as high pressure ridge axis retreated to the CA coast. With northwest flow aloft ahead of a low pressure over the Pacific NW, temperatures will not reach the warm levels reached on Friday, with today`s highs about 5-10 degrees cooler. As this low drops farther south into the Great Basin on Sunday, even more cooling is expected with a back door cold front passage dropping highs to the mid 40s-near 50. West winds will increase tonight for higher elevations with gusts near 60 mph, although lower elevations won`t see much increase in winds overnight. For Sunday, winds shift to the north and northeast with some gusts near 20 mph in lower elevations adding to the chilly conditions. Ridge winds won`t be as strong after the wind shift on Sunday, although some NE-E gusts to 40 mph are on tap through Sunday night. Latest high resolution guidance favors dry weather prevailing through the remainder of the weekend, although a few ensemble members in the blended guidance hang on to very light non-accumulationg snow showers/flurries scraping across northern and eastern Pershing County Sunday morning. December will start out chilly with stronger valley inversions Monday morning leading to limited warmup during the day, peaking out only in the 40s to near 50 for lower elevations and Sierra communities. With high pressure retreating farther offshore across the eastern Pacific through the middle of next week, the prevailing storm track will continue favoring inland trajectories with shortwaves dropping in from the north. A weak preliminary wave on Tuesday brings very low chances (around 10%) for passing sprinkles or flurries across far northeast CA/northwest NV. Otherwise, the main effects through Tuesday afternoon will be increasing west ridge winds and a weaker inversion allowing a brief warmup into the 50s. For Tuesday night-Wednesday, the main low is projected to drop southward across the Great Basin with surface cold front passage across western NV. Moisture continues to be limited and the fast progression of this system will further limit precip amounts (mainly as snow due to snow levels dropping to 4000-4500 feet behind the cold front). Blended guidance only shows a 10-20% chance for 1" snowfall for most of the eastern Sierra/Tahoe basin, and higher elevations of Douglas-Mineral counties, except for a small part of northern Mono and southern Lyon counties where this probability edges up to near 30%. For western NV valleys, brief snow showers late Tuesday night could leave a dusting of snow (10-20% chance) but that`s about all in terms of precip associated with this low and cold front. With increasing northeast-east flow behind the front on Wednesday, brisk and chilly conditions settle in with stronger ridge gusts over the Sierra continuing through Wednesday night. Below average temperatures prevail with highs only in the 30s for Sierra communities and 40s for lower elevations on Wednesday, and 40s across most areas on Thursday as valley inversions return. A modest warmup may return by the end of next week as the high pressure ridge attempts to edge closer to the west coast. Significant precip is still not anticipated into next weekend, although additional weak shortwave passages leave open the possibility of light shower chances mainly near the OR border. MJD && .AVIATION... Fast-moving weak weather systems will bring periods of increased mountain wave turbulence and isolated LLWS, due to increasing and shifting winds aloft from this afternoon through early Monday. Westerly FL100/ridge top winds increase with peak gusts near 50 kt at times between 06Z-18Z late tonight-Sunday AM. These FL100 winds then shift to NE-E with gusts to 35 kt at times Sunday evening- Monday AM between 03-18Z. Surface winds will be lighter through this evening, with occasional gusts to 15-20 kt for Sierra/Tahoe terminals overnight. For Sunday, most terminals can expect a shift to N-NE winds with gusts 15-20 kt, except stronger WNW gusts near 25 kt are anticipated at KMMH. Otherwise, VFR conditions prevail regionwide through Monday with areas of mid-high level cloud cover especially tonight-Sunday AM but no precipitation. MJD && .REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NV...None. CA...None. && $$