Welcome to winter

A snow-covered landscape Tuesday offered a wintry playground for children to dash across frosty powder and snowboarders to ride down white hillsides as Las Vegans embraced a sudden turn for the colder.

"Every year we come here," said Las Vegas native Carlos Mendoza, 32, after helping his 8-year-old sister, Lupeta, up a snowy embankment at Lee Meadows. "We just try to do something different."

Beginning today, valley residents can stay put. The frigid weather will come to them, but no snow is forecast for lower elevations.

A cold front is expected to bring the chilliest weather of 2010 to Southern Nevada. It will knock temperatures to 15 to 20 degrees below normal for this time of year and possibly make for the lowest high-temperature days on record, according to the National Weather Service.

The highs for Wednesday and Thursday are predicted to be in the mid-40s. Previously, the chilliest highs on record for those days has been 47 degrees.

Temperatures will drop to as low as 22 degrees in some parts of the valley on Thanksgiving morning. Black Friday shoppers looking to catch early bargains can expect about the same.

Before you complain too loudly, give thanks that Southern Nevada isn't engulfed in blizzards playing havoc in Northern Nevada, Utah, Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Anyone traveling to those regions for Thanksgiving weekend should double-check highway conditions and flight cancellations.

On Mount Charleston, crews were preparing the ski resort for its Friday season opening. The snow-making operation, fed by pond water, was expanded five-fold, ensuring there will be ample snow on the slopes, said Curt Sheffield, the resort's business affairs director.

"So, we'll have more consistent snow," Sheffield said.

The ski runs are blanketed with about 6 inches of natural snow, and the resort must add another 6 inches for the minimum depth for skiing, he said.

At the Upper Bristlecone trailhead, a dozen friends who had gone to school together in Las Vegas were enjoying a casual reunion. They drove up to Mount Charleston to take in the snow-dappled hills in the distance and hang out.

"We're having fun," Yandis Perez said.

Down the road at Lee Meadows, a group of young men was about to trudge up a hill to get in some snowboarding a couple of days before the resort opens.

"It's a good spot to come out and have some practice," said Jacob Farinholt, 19.

Dominick Washington, 19, noted that the mountain received its first significant snowfall this week, later than normal.

"Usually, it's more like the beginning of November," Washington said.

Across the field, Mendoza and his friends were enjoying lower-speed activities, such as strolling and tossing snowballs.

Lazaro Verdecia, 42, said he will be zooming down the slopes on weekends when the ski resort opens. He plans to teach his daughter, Alondra, 6, how to ski.

"In January," he added, "when it's really cold."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal. com or 702-455-4519.