It may be spring, but more snow is coming to Reno-Tahoe area

• It has snowed at the Reno airport 33 days since Oct. 1.
• Sugar Bowl, on Donner Pass, has recorded almost 60 feet of snow this year.
• According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will remain cold.

Although the calendar says it's spring, Mother Nature hasn't caught up.

Another large, cold winter storm is coming to the Reno-Tahoe area early next week.

Moving in late Monday or early Tuesday, the storm will bring two to four feet of snow across the Sierra, a foot to the Lake Tahoe Basin and up to a couple of inches to Reno.

If it feels snowier than usual this winter in Reno, that’s because it has been.

Since Oct. 1, it has snowed 33 days at the Reno Airport, surpassing the 30 days of snow recorded at the airport in 1921-22.

At Tahoe-area ski resorts, 673 inches have fallen this year at Palisades Tahoe, 668 inches have fallen at Kirkwood, 694 inches have fallen at Boreal and 717 inches have fallen at Sugar Bowl.

Why is it so cold?

Before the storm comes in, a few days of mostly sunny skies are forecast, although temperatures will remain well below normal.

Temperatures will hover in the 40’s through next week, rivaling conditions more often seen in the dead of winter. Average Reno temperatures for this time of year are in the low 60’s.

So far this month, all but two days have been colder than average.  

The cold storms are dropping into the area from the Gulf of Alaska. Storms that come in from the Pacific are usually fueled by moisture sources across the Pacific Ocean that are warmer, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Dawn Johnson.

Will it warm up anytime soon?

Signs aren’t pointing in that direction, according to Johnson.

According to the long-range forecast, we might reach temperatures closer to normal in early April – if we’re lucky.

Amy Alonzo covers the outdoors, recreation and environment for Nevada and Lake Tahoe. Reach her ataalonzo@gannett.com.