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We saw gusty southwest winds Wednesday, and those conditions continue for a bulk of today with strong crosswinds for travel on East-West routes and blowing dust. Wind Advisories remain in effect for the West Desert, including the Tooele and Rush valleys, Great Salt Lake Mountains and Desert, and parts of Box Elder, Juab, Millard, and Iron Counties until this evening. The winds will linger until a potent cold front shifts the wind direction to the Northwest.
Moisture starts out showery and amps up throughout the day, bringing healthy valley precipitation and a prolonged period of mountain snow to the state. Similar to last week, we see a storm cycle bringing soggy conditions to Utah through Friday afternoon.
This incoming storm system taps into atmospheric river remnants, leading to heavy mountain snow by early Thursday, particularly in the Upper Cottonwoods and Southern Mountains.
A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the mountain spine of Utah, including the Southern Wasatch, Western Uintas, Northern, Central, and Southern mountains. The warnings will hold for the mountains south of I-80 until 6 p.m. Friday, with other mountain ranges seeing the warnings expire by 9 a.m. Friday.
Valleys will likely see rain to start, with it becoming mixed precipitation across the state until the cold front moves in on Thursday evening. The cold front looks to sweep through the state in the evening and could bring a burst of snow to valley locations.
Snow levels could drop very quickly and cause travel impacts, which is categorized as a snow squall, so we will be monitoring the situation closely. The winds will become northwesterly behind the front, and snow will continue into Friday, with northwest-facing mountains picking up the most snowfall.
We also have potential with our northwest flow to see lake-effect snow. Right now, the wind direction would favor the east benches in Davis and Salt Lake County with additional snow accumulation.
As a result of the falling snow levels, we also have several Winter Weather Advisories for the Northern Wasatch Mountains, Eastern Uintas, La Sal/Abajo mountains, eastern Juab and Millard Counties, Wasatch Back, and parts of the Wasatch Front from Salt Lake to Weber County.
The Winter Weather Advisory for the Wasatch Front includes Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber Counties where 1 to 4 inches of snow is possible (up to 6 inches for east benches) from 6 p.m. Thursday until 12 p.m. Friday.
The Wasatch Back is also under an advisory from 6 p.m. Thursday through noon Friday, but mountain valleys will perform better with 4 to 8 inches on the table.
Snow squalls — which are short periods of intense snowfall with low visibility, gusty winds, and a rapid drop in temperatures — are not out of the question in northern Utah during the evening commute. If we do see a snow squall, it would create dangerous travel conditions as squalls can flip weather and driving conditions on their heads within a couple of minutes.
Juab and Millard Counties — including Nephi, Fillmore, and Scipio — will have their advisory go into effect at 6 p.m. Thursday and will expire at 9 a.m. Friday. Valleys in central Utah can expect 2 to 4 inches, with locally higher amounts along the benches.
The Wasatch Mountains north of I-80 will have their Winter Weather Advisory from 6 a.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday and can expect 8 to 14 inches. Snow totals in the La Sal/Abajo Mountains won’t perform as well as other mountain ranges across the state with only 6 to 12 inches on deck, but that’s still enough to warrant an advisory from noon Thursday to noon Friday.
Right now, a trailing system will impact Northern Utah Friday night into Saturday, and with cold air in place, scattered snow is expected again with a period of mixed precipitation or rain during the day. This is the key difference from last week — we will not see drier conditions for our weekend, as active skies will hold on through the beginning of next week in Northern Utah. Southern Utah will stay slightly unsettled, but once the rain clears Friday morning, an overall drier setup is expected Saturday in Washington County.
Along with the snow, expect blowing dust and the possibility of snow squalls as this system moves through. It has the potential to bring flash freezes and sloppy road conditions within the storm cycle. Our mountains could pick up another one to two feet of snow when all is said and done, and while snowfall amounts will vary, temperatures take a serious dip by the close of the work week, running about 10 degrees below average.
Since this storm is still evolving, make sure to state with your 4Warn Weather team for updates. We’ll keep you posted on the latest information in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!
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