Las Vegas blanketed in snow for a white Valentine's Day

Summer Lin
·2 min read
Los Angeles, CA - February 14: Freddy Carrillo is helping sell balloons and flowers on Valentine's Day near the corner of 7th street and San Pedro on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA. Many merchants are busy selling flowers in shops and on the sidewalk here today. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Freddy Carrillo is sells balloons and flowers on Valentine's Day in downtown Los Angeles as cold weather system moves through the region, bringing gray skies and even snow in Nevada. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Las Vegas residents had a white Valentine's Day on Tuesday after a cold and windy weather system dropped rain and snow in higher elevations across Nevada and Arizona.

A cold front overtook the region Tuesday morning, bringing wind gusts of 50 mph and over to some areas of Nevada and Arizona, along with snowy showers.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday for elevations above 4,000 feet, including Colorado City, Ariz., according to the National Weather Service. Those areas could see 2 to 10 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 45 mph.

A winter weather advisory is also in effect for elevations above 4,000 feet in Arizona, including Dolan Springs, Wikieup, Kingman and Hualapai Mountains. Travel is expected to be hazardous on Interstate 40. Up to 5 inches of snow and gusts up to 45 mph are expected.

Nevada residents posted videos of snow flurries Tuesday afternoon across Las Vegas, as well as in Skye Canyon Park and Harry Reid International Airport.

Showers are expected to continue and shift east Tuesday night and continue into Wednesday, according to the weather service. Temperatures are expected to be 10 to 12 degrees below normal for this time of year.

Strong winds are expected to continue before subsiding slightly Wednesday afternoon. High wind warnings are in effect for California's Owens Valley and San Bernardino County.

The rest of the week is also expected to be cold. A hard freeze watch has been issued for central Mohave County in Arizona, in particular the Kingman area, from Wednesday evening through Thursday morning. Temperatures could reach below freezing.

Temperatures could climb nearly to normal over the weekend, as southerly winds Friday could bring some respite to the chilly weather.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.