Snow today

A familiar refrain this winter - snow in the mountains, rain in the valleys - could carry a different tune today, when some snow may reach the valley floors in the Carson City area.

Tuesday night's rain was expected to turn to snow early this morning. Later today, the storm should fizzle into light snow, said meteorologist Mark Deutschendorf of the National Weather Service.

Although the valleys below 5,000 feet should see mostly rain and little snow, the mountains will get about a foot of snow.

"The mountains have a good shot at some pretty good snow again," Deutschendorf said. "There should be about a foot at ski resort level."

Elevations at 5,000 feet will see about 1-3 inches, Deutschendorf said, and temperatures should stay above freezing.

Meteorologist Danny Mercer said snow at Lake Tahoe will let up for a couple of days, but not before another big dump.

"We have a strong storm system right now," Mercer said. "It's got a really strong cold air pocket behind it, so we should have some pretty heavy snow moving up into the Sierra."

Mercer predicted up to 8 inches at lake level on Tuesday night and more than a foot over 7,000 feet.

"There will be some additional snow at lake level and up on Wednesday," Mercer said on Tuesday evening. "And there could also be a couple of inches around the foothills."

The storm should clear out late this evening, giving hard-working plow drivers a little break on Thursday and Friday.

"The next system (storm) is scheduled to come in late Saturday and continue on into Sunday," Mercer said. "It looks like a pretty decent storm. Until then, there may be some light showers and clouds."

High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-40s for Thursday and into the 50s for the rest of the week. The low is predicted to be in the 20s.

Increasing clouds will move in Sunday with a slight chance of showers, according to the forecast.