Deep freeze headed toward Nevada

Friday, Dec. 18, 1998 | 4:34 a.m.

Forecasters said a polar express from the Yukon would send temperatures plummeting across northern Nevada by the weekend.

Highs on Saturday were expected to barely break freezing - if that - and the weather service said brisk north winds would make the bite feel even colder.

By Monday, lows were expected to range from minus 10 to minus 20 degrees in the northeast, and from single digits to near zero in the west with daytime highs in the single digits to around 20.

The last time December in northern Nevada was so cold was eight years ago, the weather service said.

Records show December 1990 started out mild, but quickly changed the week before Christmas when record highs and lows were set on four consecutive days.

On Christmas Eve that year, the temperature plummeted to minus 11, while the daytime high only reached 16 degrees.

Since then, the coldest minimum temperatures recorded in December were 5 degrees in 1992 and 8 degrees last year, the weather service said.

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