A low-pressure system will drop down from the north into the region this weekend, bringing freezing temperatures, rain, and a chance of snow for the Truckee-Tahoe area.

The National Weather Service office in Reno has issued a special weather statement for the greater Lake Tahoe area regarding a strong cold front moving into the area.

“It’s coming basically along the Northwest coast of the U.S., dropping through,” said Chris Johnston, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Reno. “Basically what’s happening is that low is just kind of going to sit over top of us for three or four days, and then it’s going to move out. We’ll have an initial cold front Saturday, and then we’ll have secondary colder air come through Sunday into Monday.”

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The region should experience gusty conditions of up to 30 mph on Friday afternoon with a slight chance of showers. Rain and snow are likely on Saturday afternoon going into Sunday morning.

“Looking at Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning, we could see some light snow accumulation, especially over the Sierra passes,” said Johnston. “Really the impacts will be more pronounced because it’s the first colder system of the season.”

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Higher elevations in the Sierra could see 2 to 4 inches, according to Johnston, while the passes and elevations around Truckee and Tahoe could receive a dusting up to 2 inches.

“Since it’s coming out of the Northwest the moisture with this is not as strong as we’d get with more of a broader scale trough out of like the middle part of the Pacific. This is colder, but it doesn’t have as much moisture associated with it,” said Johnston.

“The biggest thing is preparing people for bad travel conditions Saturday night into Sunday morning. And then, there will be another shot of snow showers later Sunday night into Monday morning.”

Temperatures are forecast to drop during the weekend, said Johnston, and will continue to fall through the early parts of next week as clouds clear out of the region. Truckee is forecast for a low of 33 degrees on Saturday morning, a low of 21 degrees Sunday morning, a low of 20 degrees on Monday morning, and a low of 16 degrees Tuesday morning.

“It’s a cold system,” said Johnston. “It will warm up slightly (toward the end of next week), but it’s still going to be below normal. Temperatures will probably still be 10 to 15 degrees below normal by the end of the week.”