LAS VEGAS (AP) – Las Vegas visitors hoping for a winter wonderland on New Year’s Eve can bet on plenty of cold but not much of the white stuff.
The National Weather Service reported snow showers and flurries Wednesday morning in parts of the Las Vegas valley, but virtually none of it was sticking. Forecasters predicted a 20 percent chance of snow in the evening.
Snow did build up on the city’s outskirts, including at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard about an hour’s drive from downtown, where two inches were reported on Wednesday.
About 340,000 people are expected to visit Las Vegas for an extravagant New Year’s Eve fireworks show and party that closes down traffic on the Strip. They’re advised to bundle up – overnight temperatures are expected to dip as low as 23 degrees, and meteorologists have issued a hard-freeze watch for the valley through Friday morning.
The chill is part of a cold front stretching over much of the western U.S.