Nature, Weather and Scenic Drives Near Reno

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Reno sits in high desert, Truckee and Tahoe in snow country. This page gives NOAA monthly normals for each, then official hazard advice and the scenic drives that an official page confirms.

Checked November 3, 2026. Dates, prices and hours change; the official page wins.

3NOAA stations compared
44.2Truckee December snow normal
93.9Reno July high normal
Nov 3, 2026checked

Mount Rose Highway climbing through forest toward the Sierra — Mount Rose Highway. Photo: Patrick Nouhailler’s…, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Weather by Season

These are NOAA 1991 to 2020 monthly normals (high / low temperature, precipitation, snowfall) from the NCEI data service. The service did not state units; the values fit degrees Fahrenheit and inches, and we label the units not confirmed by the page. Station elevations listed by the service are 1344.2, 1774.9 and 1924.5 (unit not stated). The station names are NOAA’s; they are not “downtown” or “the lake.”

Month	Reno Tahoe Intl Airport	Truckee Ranger Station	South Lake Tahoe Airport
Jan	47.7 / 26.1; precip 1.25; snow 5.2	41.8 / 16.1; precip 5.68; snow 43.6	42.8 / 18.4; precip 2.81; snow no snow normal in source
Apr	64.7 / 38.5; precip 0.44; snow 0.4	54.8 / 25.2; precip 2.13; snow 18.5	53.2 / 27.6; precip 1.27; snow no snow normal in source
Jul	93.9 / 60.4; precip 0.20; snow 0.0	83.8 / 41.4; precip 0.26; snow 0.0	80.4 / 42.5; precip 0.39; snow no snow normal in source
Oct	70.4 / 39.7; precip 0.50; snow 0.1	64.6 / 27.5; precip 1.77; snow 2.8	62.2 / 29.2; precip 1.43; snow no snow normal in source

WinterTruckee’s normals show 43.6 snow in January and 44.2 in December, against 5.2 at Reno’s airport in both months.
SummerReno’s July normal high is 93.9 and low 60.4; Truckee’s is 83.8 and 41.4; South Lake Tahoe’s is 80.4 and 42.5.
Spring and fallTruckee still shows 18.5 snow in April and 2.8 in October.
ForecastsFor today’s weather use NWS Reno, which links to winter, fire weather, flood and heat safety pages.

Official Hazard Guidance

Safety note. Read the agency pages for today’s status. This page does not replace them. Last checked November 3, 2026.

BearsSecure trash and food and never feed wildlife. See Wildlife: Staying Safe (NDOW, Tahoe BEARS, CDFW, NPS).
AvalancheThe Sierra Avalanche Center publishes a free daily forecast for the Central Sierra Nevada from Truckee, at 7 a.m. as its site states. Danger scale: Low, Moderate, Considerable, High, Extreme, usually rated for three elevation bands. Sierra Avalanche Center; danger scale. Season dates are not stated on its pages.
Winter driving and chainsCaltrans says to stop and install chains when signs say chains are required, and the CHP can cite you. See Conditions Now.
Wildfire and smokeAirNow bands: 0 to 50 Good, 51 to 100 Moderate, 101 to 150 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, 151 to 200 Unhealthy, 201 to 300 Very Unhealthy, 301 and up Hazardous (AirNow). On our check date the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit listed fire danger as Moderate; we did not open its burn status or campfire restriction pages (Forest Service).
Heat, storms, floodsNWS Reno links to heat, thunderstorm, lightning and flood safety pages: NWS Reno.

Scenic Drives

Lake Tahoe – Eastshore DriveThe Federal Highway Administration lists it as a National Scenic Byway, describing lake views, pine forests and snow-capped mountains (FHWA byways list). Length and route number are not on that list page. See Sand Harbor and Incline Village.
Emerald BayCalifornia State Parks says chains or four-wheel drive are frequently required in winter; the Caltrans hotline is 1-800-427-ROAD. See Emerald Bay. Highway 89 winter closure dates are not stated.
Mt. Rose Highway (SR 431)The road to the Mt. Rose and Tahoe Meadows trailheads and Mt. Rose ski area, per Forest Service trailhead directions. Whether it is a designated byway, and its length, were not confirmed.
Virginia City, Donner Pass Road, Pyramid LakeWe did not read an official page for these drives, so no length or byway status is stated. See Virginia City and Donner Pass.

On The Map

6 of the places named above are pinned for Nature, Weather and Scenic Drives Near Reno. Tap a pin for the page and directions. Dashed pins are approximate. © OpenStreetMap contributors.

What We Could Not Confirm

These items were not read on an official page when we checked, so we do not state them as fact. Who can confirm each one is named.

Units on the NCEI normals (the data service did not state them), and a South Lake Tahoe snowfall normal (the field was blank in the source).
Western Regional Climate Center tables and Northern Nevada Public Health smoke guidance: those pages did not load for us.
Avalanche season dates, Red Flag Warning definitions, and R-1/R-2/R-3 chain-control levels: no page we read gave them.
Scenic byway lengths and designation for Mt. Rose Highway, the Comstock, Donner Pass Road and Pyramid Lake.

More to Explore

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Truckee snowier than Reno?

In the NOAA normals, yes: Truckee Ranger Station shows 43.6 snow in January and Reno Tahoe International Airport shows 5.2.

Where do I check avalanche danger?

The Sierra Avalanche Center publishes a daily forecast for the Central Sierra Nevada.

Is the weather data current?

No. These are 1991 to 2020 normals, not a forecast. Use NWS Reno for forecasts.

Sources

Cite this page: It’s Reno editorial team, “Nature, Weather and Scenic Drives Near Reno,” itsreno.com, checked November 3, 2026.

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