Freeze Watches are up for the Truckee Meadows Friday morning, so make sure to protect any sensitive vegetation. This will be a hard freeze, meaning lows will dip below 29 degrees. Thursday morning will be cold too, with lows in the upper 20’s and low 30’s.
The Freeze Watch includes Reno, Carson City, Minden, and Northeast California. Freezes this time of year are not unheard of, but after a warm March, many flowers and vegetation have already bloomed. You’ll want to protect any outdoor plants Friday morning as a result.
Reno usually sees its last hard freeze April 8th, but a couple years ago it happened on April 19th. This is only the middle of April, so while we will drop below freezing Friday morning, more active weather is in the forecast next week too. We’ve been colder.
The record low at the Reno Airport on April 17th is 14 degrees, set back in 1947. Thirteen degrees is the coldest low temperature on record for the entire month. Reno usually sees it’s last freeze on April 26th. A few years ago, Reno even fell below freezing in May!
The warmest spot will be the airport Thursday morning, with a low of 27 degrees. This means that Cold Springs will be in the lower 20’s, and many of our neighborhoods will be around 23 or 24 degrees Friday morning. Carson City will reach a low of 21, and South Tahoe will be in the mid teens. Lows will be several degrees warmer on Saturday, with highs near 70 degrees.
The odds of a hard freeze occurring are strong. The ingredients are there for a cold start. Skies will be clear, winds will be light, and a cold air mass will be in place. Dry air cools off quickly. This is called radiational cooling, and happens frequently in a desert location…