Last November I wrote a blog about what it is like to live in Sierra Canyon a Del Webb's over 55 active adult community in Reno. Today I got a comment on my posting asking about the weather here. Shirley, the commenter is from Washington state near the Canadian border. She asked about snow, cold, heat and dreariness. Here is my reply to her.
I suspect you would really like Sierra Canyon. You asked about snow. It really is not bad at all. This is my first winter in Reno but apparently we have had a lot more snow than usual this year and it doesn't seem like all that much to me. I think we have had 5 or 6 snowstorms and the snow has melted in between them.To me we had just about the right amount of snow. We had the beautiful snow experience but it didn't last or block the roads for very long.
If you haven't picked a house here yet you might consider getting a south facing driveway. It had never occurred to me but the snow melts in our south facing front yard much faster than it melts on the yards across the street from us. It is amazing to drive down our street a couple of days after a snow storm. The yards on the right have no snow and the yards and driveways on the left still look like winter with lots of ice and snow.
It gets cold here but it is nothing like living in the midwest. We spent quite a bit of time in Iowa this winter and there is a big difference between temperatures in the 20s and 30s like we have in Reno and temperatures around zero like we experienced in Iowa.
You asked whether it is gloomy here. Just the opposite. Reno is high desert and as a result we have a lot of very sunny days. It is one of the things I really like about living here. Because it is desert it is also very dry here. We run a humidifier quite often. Living in a wetter climate like Washington means that because ] it is wet it is very green. I suspect that the thing you would miss most about Washington is the beautiful lush green vegetation. If I was picking a color to describe western Washington it would be green. My color for Nevada would be brown.
You may wonder about all the snow in my snowshoeing pictures. We are right up against the east side of the Sierras. Most of the moisture from the Pacific hits the Sierras and is dropped on the west side of the mountains. If you drive 30 miles west from here there is still a lot of snow. Here there is none.
One other thing about the weather in Reno that you didn't ask about is the wind. Especially where Sierra Canyon is situated right up against the mountains we get a lot of wind. I kind of like it but I know it drives some people crazy.
I am probably not a good person to ask about the heat in the summer. We didn't move up here until the beginning of July and I didn't start living here until late August. I spent a good part of last summer taking care of my Mom who died a the end of July. My husband Duke says that there were very few days that he turned on the air conditioner. These houses are VERY well insulated. Don't get me wrong, Reno can have very hot weather but as I understand it extreme heat is not the norm. I think there is a big difference between Las Vegas and Reno. We are more than 400 miles farther north.
Weather can make a big difference to your state of mind. But I think the gorgeous scenery and the abundance of bright sunny days make Reno a great place to live.
Let me know if there is anything else you would like to know.
Marion
