According to the National Weather Service, the last time Reno stayed below freezing all day was January 25th of 2021. It’s been a mild and dry couple of years overall, but winter can make a comeback when we least expect it. Highs on Wednesday February 23rd, struggled to make it out of the upper 20’s and lower thirties. The official high at the Reno Airport was a frigid 31 degrees, and that’s despite a fair amount of afternoon sunshine. As skies cleared Wednesday night temperatures tanked Thursday morning. Snow on the ground can also make temperatures colder. Snow is very reflective and has a high albedo. This makes it hard for snow to absorb heat. Lows Thursday morning ranged from nine below in Truckee to the teens in the middle of Reno. The Reno Airport is usually the warmest location in our area at night, and even there the low was 13 degrees. Highs Thursday were in the 40’s. Gusty winds made it feel even colder.
Reno can see any kind of weather this time of year. The average high in Reno is 54 degrees towards the end of February, and temperatures were 20 degrees cooler than that on Wednesday. I wouldn’t get rid of your winter clothing just yet. While meteorological spring starts March 1st, we can still get snow in spring.
Going all the way back to 1938, 71 is the hottest temperature ever recorded at the Reno Airport on February 23rd, and 31 is the coldest since that date as well. Reno has been in the 70’s once on this date, the 60’s 19 times, the 50’s 28 times, and the 40’s 26 times. We’ve been in the 30’s only 11 times on this date, going all the way back to 1938. Technically, Reno also reached 19 degrees on February 23rd in 1897.
A dry cold front will slip into northern Nevada Thursday night, but it’s not very strong. It will be chilly Friday with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 30’s and lower 40’s. Milder air moves in this weekend with a couple chances for more rain/snow next week. The storms that do move through next week will be warmer than this last one. Have a good day!
