Las Vegas sees record-setting cold, braces for snow

By Tovin Lapan

Friday, Dec. 6, 2013 | 9:28 a.m.

Las Vegas kicked off December with a record-setting cold front and a second weather system moving in this weekend is expected to dust the western valley with snow on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

An arctic cold front that arrived earlier this week dropped temperatures, setting a new record Thursday for the lowest high temperature — 41 degrees at McCarran International Airport, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski said.

The previous record for Dec. 4 was 42 degrees set in 1972.

The predicted high temperature for today is 41 degrees, which would match the record for the day set in 1978.

The system that started the drop in temperatures in Southern Nevada on Wednesday is now sitting over coastal Texas and the eastern half of the U.S., and a second cold front has come in behind it, Stachelski said.

On Saturday, precipitation is expected to start in the afternoon, with snow above 3,000 feet and rain at lower elevations. Later in the evening, as it gets colder, snow may fall as low as 2,500 feet. Saturday should be warmer than Friday, however, with a high of 47 degrees.

Mount Charleston can expect three to six inches of snow, he said.

“It’s not going to be a lot of snow, maybe an inch or two in the higher parts of the western valley,” Stachelski said. “There also could be rain coming down in other parts of the area, and we could see some black ice and slippery roads.”

High winds will add to the poor conditions late Saturday, with gusts reaching 35 mph, Stachelski said.

Sunday should be dry, but high temperatures will hover in the low 40s through Wednesday.