After a sunny and dry start to March an unsettled and colder weather pattern is returning this weekend to Lake Tahoe and likely lasting through much of next week.

The National Weather Service in Reno issued a special statement on Thursday morning and advised that Sierra travelers should keep a close eye on the forecast to best navigate the roads.

Officials said a fast-moving pacific storm will bring up to 6 inches of snow to the Sierra crest and about 1-2 inches at lake level from late Friday night into early Saturday morning.

“Although this is not a strong storm by Sierra standards, it will create trans-Sierra travel impacts early Saturday morning,” the service said.

Only light rain and snow showers are expected for foothill and lower valleys across western Nevada Saturday morning.

Gusty winds will accompany the storm with gusts up to 80 mph for exposed ridges and 25-35 mph at lower elevations.

After the storm blows out Saturday, it should be a sunny day with a high in the low 40s.

The sunny skies return Sunday with a high of about 50.

The service said the active pattern should return on Monday and last through at least Thursday.

“While not anticipating any particularly strong storms, we can expect multiple low to moderate intensity waves of Sierra snowfall over a 3-4 day period,” said the statement.

The systems will be on the colder side so officials are expecting mostly snowfall with transitions between rain for the Western Nevada foothills.

Travel impacts are a solid bet with the first wave of Sierra snow expected Monday afternoon into Tuesday with additional waves Tuesday night into Thursday.