Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Silver Springs, NV

DISCUSSION

Another day of record highs came to Reno and South Lake Tahoe, as a late touch of 77 degrees after 5 PM PDT tied the previous March 22 record high from 2004, and South Tahoe's high of 69 degrees beat their previous record also from 2004 by 4 degrees. For an updated running summary of this epic March heat event, see the Climate section below.

The high pressure ridge that produced these record highs was pushed south of the US-Mexico border over the weekend, although it will rebuild over the southwest US again today through Wednesday.
This will allow some warming with highs climbing today and peaking Tuesday-Wednesday into the lower-mid 80s for lower elevations, and upper 60s-lower 70s for Sierra valleys. One wild card today is a more widespread swath of cirrus and increased lee side mountain wave clouds, which may limit heating by a few degrees.

Zonal flow over the Sierra will produce breezy winds each afternoon today through Wednesday. The 700 mb flow peaks today around 40 kt, although the mixing into the valleys may be limited a bit with the thicker clouds. On Tuesday-Wednesday, the 700 mb flow weakens to 20-30 kt over the Sierra, but surface pressure gradients will become tighter with less cloud cover overhead.
This gradient is tightest Wednesday as a shortwave trough passage across the Pacific NW drags a dry cold front into northwest NV late Wednesday afternoon and across the remainder of the region Wednesday night. While we'll see wind gusts fluctuating around lake wind advisory criteria for the next three afternoons, the west central NV lakes are more likely to see a longer period of enhanced gusts Tuesday and/or Wednesday.

For the remainder of this week and the final weekend of March, temperatures will drop from the early week warmth but still remain 5-10 degrees above average (mid 60s-lower 70s for lower elevations and lower 60s for Sierra valleys) Thursday. Another slow warmup to near 80 degrees for western NV valleys and mid- upper 60s for Sierra valleys could even challenge more daily record highs by the weekend. Light winds Thursday-Friday then transition to more typical PM breezes for the weekend.

Looking toward the end of the month, there are signals for the unseasonably warm and dry pattern finally breaking down. However, confidence remains on the lower side as these high pressure ridges often linger beyond medium range guidance projections. The first weather system around March 30-31 appears to be on the weaker side with maybe a low-end (15-25%) chance of showers for the Sierra into northeast CA-northwest NV, and a glancing blow elsewhere with winds ramping upward and temperatures dipping to near seasonal averages. A more potent storm could follow around the first 3 days of April with more ensemble members currently in agreement, but it's far too soon to put more than a 15-25% confidence in this outcome panning out, especially for the unsettled spring season.
MJD

AVIATION

VFR conditions will hold for all Sierra and western NV terminals through the next few days. Areas of cirrus will continue spreading overhead for most days this week, with increasing mountain wave clouds appearing today.

FL100 wind gusts of 45-55 kt today and 35-45 kt Tuesday-Wednesday will bring increased mountain wave turbulence and localized LLWS along the lee side of the Sierra especially from late morning through early evening (18Z-03Z). Farther south toward KMMH, these FL100 wind gusts will be a little lighter, but still contributing to areas of turbulence especially today.

Surface winds ramp up each afternoon today through Wednesday, with gusts of 25-30 kt as these stronger FL100/ridge top winds mix down to the valley floors. MJD

CLIMATE

The heat hits keep on coming for both Reno and South Lake Tahoe.
While the monthly records set last week won't be challenged this week, more daily record highs are within reach at both sites today through Wednesday, and also by the final weekend of March.

* New March monthly record high at Reno:

- Reno, NV: New record of 88F on Friday March 20. The previous monthly record was 86F on 3/18/2026.

* New March monthly record high at South Lake Tahoe:

- South Lake Tahoe, CA: New record of 76F on Wednesday March 18.
The previous monthly record was 71F on 3/30/2015.

New daily record high temperatures and the previous daily record high temperatures for Reno and South Lake Tahoe:

Date Reno NV South Lake Tahoe CA ---- ------------ ------------------- 3/17 82F (old 78F in 2007) 69F (old 65F in 2007)
3/18 86F (old 77F in 1947) 76F (old 63F in 2004)
3/19 85F (old 77F in 1997) 72F (old 65F in 2015)
3/20 88F (old 81F in 2004) 72F (old 68F in 1997)
3/21 81F (old 80F in 2004) 70F (old 68F in 1997)
3/22 77F (tied with 2004) 69F (old 65F in 2004)
3/23 77F - 2022 66F - 2022 3/24 80F - 2022 65F - 2022 3/25 81F - 2022 67F - 2022 -------------------------------------------------------

New daily record warmest low temperatures and the previous daily record warmest low temperatures for Reno and South Lake Tahoe:

Date Reno NV South Lake Tahoe CA ---- ------------ ------------------- 3/18 48F - 1904 37F - 2021 3/19 46F - 2013 38F - 2013 3/20 47F - 2013 35F - 2013 3/21 50F (old 46F in 2015) 38F - 1972 3/22 50F - 2012 40F - 2012 3/23 46F - 2000 40F - 1998 3/24 45F - 2006 40F - 1986 3/25 52F - 1893 38F - 2008

-------------------------------------------------------

REV Watches/Warnings/Advisories
NV...None.
CA...None.