Record rain in Reno, snow in Sierra, winter storm advisory effective into Tuesday night

Winter storm swamps Reno, drops snow on Sierra

RENO, Nev. — An early winter storm that chased record heat out of northern Nevada has swamped Reno with record-setting rain and dropped enough snow at the top of the Sierra to close a mountain highway pass near Lake Tahoe.

The National Weather Service extended a winter weather advisory through late Tuesday afternoon for Reno, Tahoe and Carson City. Temperatures were in the upper 40s in Reno at midday Tuesday after setting record highs in the mid-90s a week ago.

More than an inch of rain (1.09) fell at Reno-Tahoe International Airport on Monday, breaking the old record of 0.23 set in 1994.

Snow forced the closure of California Highway 89 at Monitor Pass south of Tahoe Tuesday.