Darker clouds floated into the Lake Tahoe Basin Sunday and snow is on the way this week.

The National Weather Service in Reno on Sunday issued a special weather statement and a lake wind advisory.

Starting late Monday morning, NWS is forecasting a series of weak to moderate storms that will bring high, gusty winds, rain, snow and the return of cooler temperatures.

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Winds will increase Monday into Tuesday with gusts reaching up to 35-45 mph and on the ridgetops it will be howling with gusts expected in the 80-100 mph range.

The lake wind advisory starts at 1 p.m. Monday and lasts through 5 p.m. Tuesday.

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Southwest winds are expected to make waves on the lake 2 to 4 feet high. Small boats, kayaks and paddle boards should remain on shore until the winds die down.

The high wind gusts are also expected to affect aviation and make travel difficult in the valley for high profile vehicles.

Precipitation starts Monday with some snow showers that will probably leave a dusting at lake level to an inch overnight at lake level.

Tuesday into Wednesday the main cold front pushes through and up to 4 inches of snow could fall at the lake.

Travel impacts are expected in the Sierra, though these impacts are likely to be minimized during daylight hours due to warmer roads this time of the year, according to the NWS.

The high Monday will linger around 41 with the low around 30.

High temperatures from Tuesday through Thursday will be about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year, with highs just above freezing.

The Tahoe Daily Tribune is a sister publication to the Sierra Sun.