Snow and cold as spring shivers through a fourth week

Tuesday, April 14, 1998 | 10:18 a.m.

"This is normal weather for this time of the year," said Rudy Cruz, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Reno. "It's got nothing to do with El Nino. Most years, we don't get good weather until June, when we get summerlike weather all at once."

Tuesday's most unsummerlike weather left enough new accumulation in the Sierra to bring out chain or snow tire controls. It was chains only for part of the morning over Donner Summit on Interstate-80.

Alpine Meadows added 19 inches at the 8,000-foot level and Echo Summit on U.S. 50 got 13 inches.

An avalanche warning continues in the back country on the eastern side of the Sierra spine, where the avalanche danger is considered high above 6,800 feet outside developed ski areas.

Snow fell intermittently during the day throughout western Nevada along the U.S. 395 corridor from Reno-Sparks south through Carson City and Minden-Gardnerville, although temperatures remained just warm enough to melt the flakes as they landed.

Things were anything but warm in the eastern part of the state, where Ely's low of 13 on Tuesday tied the old record for the date set at Yelland Field in 1996 and was the coolest official reading in the nation.

Scattered showers or snow showers were to continue across northern Nevada on Wednesday with gradual clearing from the west late in the day. Highs in the 40s and low 50s will give way to overnight lows in the teens east to the 20s elsewhere.