A beautiful weekend is in store around Tahoe and Reno, followed by much colder, windy weather into next week, including the possibility of snow. The National Weather Service issued the following Special Weather Statement on Saturday morning: 238 AM PDT SAT SEP 26 2009 ...NEAR RECORD HIGHS THROUGH SUNDAY FOLLOWED BY A MAJOR CHANGE IN THE WEATHER NEXT WEEK WITH MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES... STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. MANY OF THESE HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL APPROACH OR EVEN EXCEED RECORD VALUES THROUGH SUNDAY. SOME COOLING IS EXPECTED MONDAY BEFORE A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS OVER THE RIDGES AND IN WIND PRONE AREAS. BEHIND THE FRONT...MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED. HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY MAY BE AS MUCH AS 35 DEGREES COLDER THAN THOSE SEEN OVER THE WEEKEND. WIDESPREAD FREEZES ARE EXPECTED THURSDAY MORNING. A FEW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SIERRA FROM THE TAHOE BASIN SOUTHWARD ON MONDAY AFTERNOON AS A WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVES OVER THE AREA AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING SYSTEM. LITTLE MOISTURE IS EXPECTED WITH THE COLD FRONT SO ONLY A FEW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED NORTH OF I-80 LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND ON TUESDAY. WITH THE MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES...SNOW LEVELS MAY DROP AS LOW AS 6000 FEET WEDNESDAY MORNING...AND NEAR 5000 FEET ALONG THE OREGON BORDER. Read the Special Weather Statement. THE CURRENT PACIFIC SATELLITE IMAGE: View Looping Image 7-DAY FORECAST Enlarge image Winter weather isn't far away. Keep tabs on what's happening - check Tahoetopia's Webcams and Weather Center.