The Carson Range is a spur of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California and western Nevada that starts at Carson Pass and stretches north to the Truckee River near Verdi, Nevada .
17-670: The mountain range is about 50 miles (80 km) long and 5–10 miles (8–16 km) wide, with 3/4 of the range lying within the state of Nevada. The Carson Range, along with its parent the Sierra Nevada, together cast a rain shadow over the Greater Reno Area and Carson City . Unlike the main crest of the Sierra Nevada to the west of Lake Tahoe , the Carson Range loses its snow much earlier (April), and gains it much later (December). In fact, it receives about half
34-442: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This El Dorado County, California –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds , known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes )
51-404: Is carried by the prevailing onshore breezes towards the drier and hotter inland areas. When encountering elevated landforms , the moist air is driven upslope towards the peak , where it expands, cools, and its moisture condenses and starts to precipitate . If the landforms are tall and wide enough, most of the humidity will be lost to precipitation over the windward side (also known as
68-607: Is limited to precipitation that crosses over the Continental Divide . While many locations west of the Divide may receive as much as 1,000 millimetres (40 in) of precipitation per year, some places on the eastern side, notably the cities of Denver and Pueblo, Colorado , typically receive only about 12 to 19 inches. Thus, the Continental Divide acts as a barrier for precipitation. This effect applies only to storms traveling west-to-east. When low pressure systems skirt
85-502: Is observed include: Downslope winds occur on the leeward side of mountain barriers when a stable air mass is carried over the mountain by strong winds that increase in strength with height. Moisture is removed and latent heat released as the air mass is orographically lifted. As the air mass descends, it is compression heated. The warm foehn wind , locally known as the Chinook wind , Bergwind or Diablo wind or Nor'wester depending on
102-484: The Rocky Mountains and approach from the south, they can generate high precipitation on the eastern side and little or none on the western slope. Further east: Orographic lifting Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain . As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically , which can raise
119-451: The rainward side) before ever making it past the top. As the air descends the leeward side of the landforms, it is compressed and heated, producing foehn winds that absorb moisture downslope and cast a broad "shadow" of dry climate region behind the mountain crests . This climate typically takes the form of shrub–steppe , xeric shrublands or even deserts . The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to
136-407: The relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation . Orographic lifting can have a number of effects, including precipitation, rain shadowing, leeward winds, and associated clouds. Precipitation induced by orographic lift occurs in many places throughout the world . Examples include: The highest precipitation amounts are found slightly upwind from
153-700: The trade winds is the zone between about 30° N and 30° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere . The westerlies are the prevailing winds in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude , blowing predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere. Some of
170-832: The Cordillera, in the direct lee of specific mountain ranges. This includes much of the Basin and Range Province in the United States and Mexico . The Pacific Coast Ranges create rain shadows near the West Coast: Most rain shadows in the western United States are due to the Sierra Nevada mountains in California and Cascade Mountains , mostly in Oregon and Washington . The Colorado Front Range
187-463: The mountain. The air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. Typically, descending air also gets warmer because of adiabatic compression (as with foehn winds) down the leeward side of the mountain, which increases the amount of moisture that it can absorb and creates an arid region. There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in bands round Earth's equatorial region. The zone designated
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#1732765647963204-448: The northern half of the range lies NV 431 , connecting Incline Village to Reno over Mount Rose Summit . The Tahoe Rim Trail traverses this mountain range. This Douglas County , Nevada state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Washoe County , Nevada state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Alpine County, California -related article
221-433: The prevailing winds at the crests of mountain ranges, where they relieve and therefore the upward lifting is greatest. As the air descends the lee side of the mountain, it warms and dries, creating a rain shadow. On the lee side of the mountains, sometimes as little as 15 miles (25 km) away from high precipitation zones, annual precipitation can be as low as 8 inches (200 mm) per year. Areas where this effect
238-728: The region, provide examples of this type of wind, and are driven in part by latent heat released by orographic-lifting-induced precipitation. A similar class of winds, the Sirocco , the Bora and Santa Ana winds , are examples where orographic lifting has limited effect since there is limited moisture to remove in the Saharan or other air masses; the Sirocco, Bora and Santa Ana are driven primarily by ( adiabatic ) compression heating. As air flows over mountain barriers, orographic lift can create
255-526: The snowfall as mountains west of the lake. Meltwater from the range feeds into the Truckee River and West Fork Carson River , as well as Lake Tahoe and Marlette Lake . The western slopes of the range form the eastern shoreline of Lake Tahoe , along which US 50 and NV 28 form a partial ring road around Lake Tahoe. Travel between Lake Tahoe and Carson City is possible via US 50 over Spooner Summit , or NV 207 over Daggett Pass. Winding through
272-697: The strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties of the Southern Hemisphere, between 30 and 50 degrees latitude. Examples of notable rain shadowing include: On the largest scale, the entirety of the North American Interior Plains are shielded from the prevailing Westerlies carrying moist Pacific weather by the North American Cordillera . More pronounced effects are observed, however, in particular valley regions within
289-419: The top of a mountain range. As atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point (which is not the same as its constant pressure dew point commonly reported in weather forecasts). At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top and windward sides of
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