LAS VEGAS >> “Ho, ho, ho! Vegas got snow!”

That was a Christmas morning posting by the National Weather Service, heralding flurries mixed with rain showers after a windy cold front swept through the Las Vegas area.

Meteorologist Chris Stachelski noted that the trace of snow recorded at McCarran International Airport tied a Christmas Day record set in 1941. Traces also were recorded on Christmas in 1988 and 2008.

Nothing stuck on the sidewalks of the Strip, but some northwest Las Vegas neighborhoods received a dusting of snow. It melted as the morning dawned clear and sunny with temperatures in the high 30s.

Meteorologist John Salmen says the wet weather blew in with windy squalls that brought gusts up to 38 miles per hour between midnight and 2 a.m. today.

In northern Nevada, Christmas brought snow to Reno and cold to Elko as wintery weather swept east from the Sierra Nevada.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dawn Johnson said that while the snowstorm was letting up in Reno, icy temperatures remained.

Johnson says daytime temperatures won’t crack the freezing mark, with lows in the single-digits in the city and below zero in mountain and valley areas.

In Elko, City Manager Curtis Calder tells the Elko Daily Free Press that a cold weather emergency shelter will open for the second time this season.

Outside town, the SnoBowl Ski & Bike Park planned to open Saturday and Sunday.

The storm system that moved through the northern Sierras dumped more than 20 inches of snow on parts of the mountain range between Thursday and this morning.

The snowfall created whiteout conditions that briefly closed a major route to Lake Tahoe, but was a boon to skiers at Tahoe resorts, which have been getting steady snowfall for the past week or so.

“It’s a day and night difference from a year ago,” said Kevin Cooper, spokesman for the Kirkwood and Heavenly resorts. “I cannot remember a Christmas Day like I just had this morning.”

The precipitation was also a boon for the state’s reservoirs. Folsom Lake added nearly 18 billion gallons on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee reported, citing state figures. The sharp increase would likely mean cities could draw drinking water from the lake without difficulty, the newspaper said.

Elsewhere in Northern California, the storm sparked a tornado that damaged the roofs of numerous homes and at least one business and downed trees, National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Shoemaker said.

The tornado traveled several miles through Eldorado County Thursday afternoon with winds of 80 to 90 miles an hour. There were no reports of injuries. It affected the communities of El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park, which lie about 30 miles northeast of Sacramento.

National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Thompson in Oxnard said the system was moving into Southern California, where strong winds were forecast starting Friday evening and into Saturday.

Wind gusts of up to 70 mph were forecast at higher elevations.