Winter's silver lining: Carson City has saved about $30,000

A small storm could sweep into the region tonight, but weather watchers need not look forward to anything substantial until Wednesday.

A dry cold front moved out of the area Saturday, leaving some residual cold, said Scott McGuire, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno, but residents should expect today's conditions to be a repeat of Saturday's.

"A little low-pressure system is moving in down along the West Coast, which will cut across south of us, bringing a decent chance of snow but no accumulation," he said.

The storm expected late Tuesday night or early Wednesday looks to be a good one, however, McGuire said.

"This looks like it will be a decent storm compared to what we've seen so far. We haven't had a major winter storm at all this year," he said.

Wind gusts of up to 65 mph are expected in some areas, with gusts up to 55 mph in the valleys, he said.

The storm could drop several inches of snow in the Sierra, with snow levels likely dropping below 5,000 feet by Wednesday morning.

The storm would be a welcome relief to many, McGuire said.

"I've heard people saying, 'Either let's have a good winter, or let's get on to a nice spring,'" he said.

And while there has been no winter weather to speak of so far, the silver lining for Carson City's Public Works Department is the cost savings of about $30,000 it sees when there are no roads to keep clear of the slippery stuff.

"We've saved $15,000 to $20,000 so far this year in overtime, and $10,000 to $15,000 in salt and cinders," said Andy Burnham, the city's public works director, "and it looks like we won't be doing too much more snow removal this year."

The city keeps enough salt and cinders for half the winter season in a covered storage area at its corporate yard on Butti Way. The supply is generally replenished halfway through the season, but this season, that purchase hasn't been necessary.

"The savings just roll over to next year's budget," Burnham said.

And street department employees not occupied with plowing or sanding roads are kept busy with other street projects, he said, such as patching.

McGuire said the dry winter can be attributed to La Nina's focus.

"This certainly has not been the winter with water or snowfall that everyone wanted," he said.

Last year's La Nina focused on the central coast, so the winter was wetter, he said, but this year, the storm track has focused mainly on Alaska down to the Pacific Northwest.

A lack of precipitation in the mountains always has an effect on the communities along the eastern slope of the Sierra.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, which regularly measures the snowpack, shows that it is 28 percent of average, and the precipitation is 40 percent of average, McGuire said.

"That's pretty dismal," he said.