RENO, Nev. >> Much of Nevada is bracing for a bitter, windy cold front, with several inches of snow expected from Reno to the Utah line by early Tuesday, single-digits temperatures in the north, and freezing temperatures even in Las Vegas later in the week.

Higher elevations could get up to a foot of snow, especially in northeast Nevada, the National Weather Service said. Up to 8 inches of snow was forecast for the foothills around Reno, with 2 to 4 inches expected in the valleys around Reno-Sparks and points east.

Daytime highs that had been 15 degrees above normal lately will drop as much as 20 degrees below normal around Elko.

Winds were gusting today to 50 mph ahead of the front in northern Nevada, where a winter storm warning goes into effect Tuesday from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Fallon and Lovelock, the weather service said.

In Ely and White Pine County, the winter storm warning stretches from 4 a.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. Wednesday, with 4 to 10 inches of snow expected in the valleys and up to 18 inches in the mountainous areas. The heaviest snow is expected in the southern part of the county.

In southern Nevada, high wind advisories were issued Monday afternoon around Death Valley National Park and were to go into effect from 10 a.m. to midnight Tuesday in the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead Recreation Area and southern Nye County. A hard freeze watch was also issued for Death Valley, Lake Mead and southern Nye County from 9 p.m. Wednesday to 9 a.m. Saturday.

In other areas:

— A winter weather advisory runs from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday around Lake Tahoe, where up to 10 inches of snow is possible above 7,000 feet, and for parts of Mineral and Lyon County, including Hawthorne and Yerington, where up to 6 inches of snow was possible above the same elevation.

— A winter weather advisory remains in effect through midmorning Tuesday for Elko County, and northern Eureka and Lander counties.

— A winter storm watch for Lincoln County stretches from Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night, with 4 to 10 inches forecast above 4,500 feet and an inch to 3 inches below that elevation.

After the snow falls, harsh winter temperatures arrive. The high will be below freezing in Reno starting Wednesday and stretching into the weekend, the service said.

“It’s just looking really cold,” National Weather Service meteorologist Edan Lindaman told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “If we have a lot of snow cover on the ground, then it will be even colder.”

Reno’s low temperatures are forecast to be 15 on Wednesday, 6 on Thursday and 12 on Friday, she said. Sierra valleys will be even colder.

In southern Nevada, freezing temperatures are expected Thursday through the weekend in the Las Vegas Valley, with temperatures in the 20s in Pahrump.