Jobs Peak still has some snow clinging to its north face on Friday morning, the first day of September. There might be a little more come Labor Day.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
With the fifth wettest August on record, and the possibility of rain this weekend, both the water year that ends this month and 2023 have entered the record books.
National Weather Service records indicate 1.36 inches of moisture fell in Minden during August, bumping a 70-year-old total down to sixth place.
The record was set in August 2022 with 2.8 inches. Records have been kept in Minden since 1906.
September tends to be one of the drier months of the year with 33 of the last 116 years seeing either a trace or zero precipitation.
But even if this weekend’s storms completely miss the gauge in the Douglas County seat, the 2022-23 water year will remain the wettest on record with 23.86 inches of precipitation. That tops the 21.03 inches that fell during the 2016-17 water year. The two water years are the wettest on record in Carson Valley.
There’s a possibility that this weekend’s storms will leave a dusting of snow on the highest peaks of the Sierra and just over a tenth of an inch of rain in Minden.
The Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is calling for 50-50 chances for precipitation through Thanksgiving and above average temperatures.
