Strip Snow? Las Vegas Readying For Cold New Year's Eve With Flurries Possible

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Fireworks coordinator Phil Grucci has a request of Mother Nature in this city of glitzy shows: If you're going to let it snow, let it snow at just the right moment, like right before midnight when his show launches from the Las Vegas Strip.

Grucci, president and creative director of Fireworks by Grucci, stood atop the Treasure Island casino-hotel on the Strip on Tuesday, one of seven hotel rooftops where 70 workers have been readying the displays since the day after Christmas.

It would also be great if the snow cleared up shortly after the show ends, he said.

Like large swaths of the western U.S., Las Vegas is bracing for unusually cold weather as 2014 ends and 2015 starts. The low in the city is forecast to be 32 degrees, with the possibility of snow flurries.

In Pasadena, California, the thousands of people who camp overnight or gather early to watch the annual Rose Parade will face an icy New Year's morning as temperatures fall near or below freezing across much of southwest California, the National Weather Service said. Temperatures in parts of northern New Mexico on Tuesday dipped below zero as an Artic front moved across the state, bringing with it freezing temperatures and dangerous driving conditions.

In Las Vegas, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski said that if it snows, it'll be fairly light on the Strip New Year's Eve morning and into the afternoon, but could be done altogether by 7 p.m. or so.

"The wind is our nemesis," Grucci said.

As of Tuesday, it was looking good he wouldn't have to do battle with it.

The National Weather Service is forecasting wind during the day, but the agency expects it to die down to 5 to 10 mph by evening.

That 10 mph is the limit for Grucci's show. With wind meters atop the roofs where the fireworks are launched, if it's that fast, there won't be a fireworks show.

Forecasts in Las Vegas pinned the area's chances on New Year's Eve snow first at 70 percent and later at 60 percent.

Even with that level of confidence, snowball fights on the Strip are far from a sure bet.

The unusual weather is part of a cold and "somewhat moist" storm moving south across California into the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas, bringing snow to parts of Northern Arizona and Utah, according to the weather service.

Stachelski said the storm front had largely bypassed most of Nevada though, with the exception of the southern tip, and was heading toward Arizona and New Mexico instead.

Meteorologists have warned tourists — much like a parent might — to "bring layers and dress warmly" and wear shoes with some good traction, not typical for revelers looking to stay fashionable on the social holiday. There will be coffee and hot chocolate — and a little something extra for those of age and feeling celebratory — at one outdoor bar outside the Monte Carlo casino along the Strip on New Year's Eve night.

Some 340,000 people are expected to pack the Strip and Las Vegas' downtown Fremont area for festivities.

If it does snow, airlines will need to bring their de-icing equipment for planes landing or taking off from Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. The airport doesn't have any snow removal gear on hand, and it isn't required to. The last time any notable amount stuck to the airport's runways was Dec. 17, 2008.

The main issue may be getting to or leaving Las Vegas. Snow is expected Tuesday evening through Wednesday in one of the main routes for Southern Californians — the Cajon Pass on Interstate 15. Travelers coming from Utah and Arizona should be fine until Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday when snow is expected on Interstate 40 through Flagstaff and U.S. Route 93 to Phoenix, Stachelski said.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.