Northern Nevada’s extreme topography creates volatile weather patterns that directly impact local facilities. This presentation will cover seasonal forecasts, El Niño trends, winter hazards such as Sierra snowpack, roof loads, arctic pipe freezes, and rain-on-snow flood events, and summer risks, including fine-fuel wildfire amplification, burn scar flash flooding, severe microbursts, and high-wind incidents.
Breakfast Presentation
2026-2027 Weather Forecasts and Impacts
07:30am - 09:00am
Nov
17
BELFOR Property Restoration Training Room
•
Reno, NV
Presenters
Dawn Johnson
Dawn Johnson is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Reno, NV. In this position, she is the primary liaison between the NWS and core partners in emergency services, tribal entities, media, and the public for a roughly 36,000 sq mi area encompassing northwest Nevada, northeast California, and the eastern Sierra. Dawn has been with the agency since 2004, and in Reno since 2009, focusing on public information, outreach, and providing decision support services for partners in key public safety roles to aid in making better-informed decisions. Dawn holds a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science and mathematics from the University of Arizona. Outside of work, Dawn enjoys cooking, baking, and partaking in outdoor recreation with her husband and three very active children.