By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal

The winter that didn’t come may be on its way.

Hopefully, anyway.

After a record-making spate of sunny, dry weather kept conditions bone dry through December and half of January, a pattern change in the Pacific could be sending wet weather on its way.

Despite the lack of moisture this winter, the Upper Truckee Marsh on Jan. 10 is still flooded. Photo/Kathryn Reed

It’s still a ways off — probably not until late next week or even next weekend — but forecasters said Thursday that rain and snow could finally make an appearance in the Reno-Tahoe area.

“It’s quite a shift from all the doldrums,” said Shane Snyder, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno.

It would be welcome news for Reno-area residents watching lawns brown under winter sun and water suppliers anxious to build on reserves for the future. Skiers and snowboarders are biting at the bit to take to slopes white with fresh snow while ski resort operators are eager to improve upon a season thus far characterized by costly dryness and mostly barren mountains.

The first hint at expected change comes Sunday as the region is brushed by a storm system forecast to bring cold air and high wind but only a slight chance of showers to the north, Snyder said. Sunday’s system is expected to be more associated with increased fire danger than any real chance at wet relief.

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