Tag: weather

What a crazy week it's been, huh? We're so used to snowstorms that fizzle out over the mountains, or that give us half an inch of snow before blowing away, that it was quite a shock to see a real winter storm come into the area for once. It started out small Sunday evening, but it really kicked into overdrive that night and we woke up to over a foot of snow in some areas of Carson, the kind of snowfall we really only get every two or three years. Most schools closed on Monday, except for Douglas County, which kept their "no snow days - ever" policy alive by holding all classes right on time. Quite a controversy erupted over that decision.

And then came the cold. Temperatures dipped below zero day after day after day. Depending on what thermometer you choose to trust, we hit as cold as 14 below some nights! Even during the day it was cold, as cold as our lows usually get during the winter. I don't think we broke 20 degrees during the whole three-day period. I'm sure if we have any readers in Minnesota they're laughing right now, but these is unusual for us. Most winters we rarely even reach 0, much less dip below.

But, I think the worst of it is over. Another storm is scheduled to blow in this weekend, but it sounds like it will be smaller and warmer. Temperatures in the 40s sounds like a Bahama vacation after the last few days we've been through. And we might get a couple more inches of snow dropped on top of what we already have, but I don't think we'll get a full foot all at once. Not this week, at least. Storms like this are nice to remind us what a real winter feels like but when you spend too much time below zero you start being thankful for how mild it usually is around here.

Here are a few more pictures from around town. Go to Flickr to see the whole set.

Quite a welcome sight this morning to wake up to a dusting of snow everywhere. I saw the flakes start falling late last night, as promised, but I wasn't sure if it would keep up and start sticking. But we ended up with enough to leave a nice dusting everywhere. Apparently Minden and Genoa got hit the worst. There was hardly anything in Carson City.

This is the earliest snow I can remember in a long time. On top of that, we had some late spring snows earlier this year. Which led to one of the shortest summers ever, only five months from snow to snow.

Now, this doesn't mean winter has started. Temperatures are getting back up to the 70s next week, and it's not unheard of to see 80s and 90s in October. So we'll be back in shorts one more time this year I predict. But I wonder if this is a sign that we'll have a nice wet winter this year? We could really use one.

Another thunderstorm blew through yesterday, and while it didn't bring the fierce rains of a couple of days ago, it did put on an impressive light show after dark. Here are a few of my photos showing the clouds lighting up with each blast.

If you want to see photos of the strom from the Washoe Valley, where the bolts were actually coming down, look at Rick's photos on Flickr. They'll blow you away. But at least thumb through mine first.

We got a nice surprise today. The dark clouds which have been gathering up every afternoon, and which sparked a couple of fires last week, finally made themselves useful and managed to put together a real rainstorm in the Carson Valley. Carson City probably got it too, since these storms nearly always move south to north.

It's still dribbling a little bit as I write this, over half an hour later.

Looks like we got more snow last night. Just a few crystals, but it still counts in "Last Snow Watch, 2009". And this one gets extra bonus points because it was 80 degrees just three or four days ago.

You always wonder when the last snow of the season is going to be, and you always end up surprised. What will it be this year? May? June? A Fourth of July blizzard?

On Friday it was 70 degrees. Last night it snowed. I'm no longer surprised by any of this; now I just find it funny.

The poor tulips got quite a shock.

Even the chrome horse had a rude awakening this morning.

A Washoe Zephyr has blown in today, whipping the valleys into a fine froth. These are the winds that will blow away tree branches, lawn furniture, small dogs, and anything else that isn't tied down. It will also try to blow you right off the road, so watch for crosswinds while you're driving.

So the weathermen finally got one right, as the storm moved down from the mountains Thursday morning and brought us snow in the valley when the sun came up. It was only a couple of inches, but that's really all we expect here in the rain shadow. And it did give us a White Christmas. Today a high pressure area is moving in to clear things up, and with the exception of possibly another quick storm over the weekend we're looking at sunny skies for the rest of the year.

Supposedly over the next 24 hours we're going to be hit with more snowstorms, just in time for Christmas. As I write this the flakes are starting to fall in Carson City, so there's a chance that this storm won't just be confined to the mountains this time.