Hey all you whiners, you think this is cold?

By Jackie Valley

Published Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013 | 3:49 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013 | 4:43 p.m.

Stop the whining.

We get it. It’s cold outside. In fact, it’s downright frigid by notoriously thin-skinned Las Vegas standards. (Overnight lows reached the mind-altering mid-20s.)

It’s so cold that Las Vegas showgirls should add a parka to their ensemble and the Chippendales should — gasp! — put on a shirt. And, yes, even the palm trees draped in Christmas lights look paralyzed by frostbite.

But let’s be realistic. Before we make a mad dash to curl up next to the nearest only-for-looks fireplace, we should step outside our Las Vegas bubble and consider the following:

In Duluth, Minn., this morning, the temperature was a frosty 8 degrees, but the wind chill made it feel more like minus 13 degrees. And a winter storm blanketed the region with more than 2 feet of snow over the course of three days, Dan Miller, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Duluth, told the Minneapolis StarTribune.

“We’re going to transition from heavy snow to digging out — and digging out quickly, before it turns into a giant iceberg,” Miller told the newspaper.

Farther west, in Bismark, N.D., the single-digit temperatures weren’t disrupting work in the state’s profitable oilfields. One worker even put a positive spin on the situation.

“This is what I love to do,” Craig Hovet, who was working on a well northwest of Bismark, told the Associated Press. “The joke around here is: This kind of weather keeps out the riffraff.”

As for children in western Montana, they’re used to the chilling temperatures. The National Weather Service predicts a high near 10 degrees today in Missoula, Mont., with a low of minus 9 tonight. But what will the wind chill feel like? Minus 35 degrees.

But with daytime temps slightly higher, children at nearby Bonner Elementary School still can frolic outside at recess. The school’s superintendent, Doug Ardiana, told The Missoulian that teachers check temperatures before recess and lunch and keep children indoors if the wind chill falls 10 below zero.

“It’s very, very rare that Bonner ever closes school or delays buses,” he told the newspaper. “We feel people are prepared to act appropriately with the weather.”

And there you have it — proof that complaining about Las Vegas’ burst of cold weather is silly when schoolchildren in other parts of the country are running around playgrounds in subzero temperatures.

Consider the difference between Las Vegas and Northern Nevada, especially for the residents of Ely – who are putting up with record cold. The National Weather Service reported the morning low today in Ely was minus 23. That's 9 degrees lower than the previous record set in 1972. Today's high in Ely was a balmy 10 degrees.

But if it makes you feel any better, other normally warm locales are feeling out of sorts with this winter storm, as well.

Take Dallas, for instance.

The Lone Star State city is bracing itself against the Weather Service’s threats of an ice storm heading its way. Flights already have been canceled.

And, according to the Dallas Morning News, the region’s transportation crews are preparing for the worst:

“At 2 p.m., the North Texas Tollway Authority will roll out its winter-weather personnel: 70 dump trucks loaded, carrying liquid de-icer and sand. The Texas Department of Transportation says it, too, is prepared. And the city of Dallas is, as always, ready to go to Ice Force Level 1.”

Maybe Las Vegas’ frigid weather isn’t so bad, after all.