Windy weather to transform to snowy conditions as a winter storm approaches the Beehive State

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy Monday Utah! It’s been all about the wind for our Monday afternoon, but that’s about to change as a strong cold front approaches the state.

The winds have been quite gusty out of the south today between 20-35 mph, but places like the west Desert region have been seeing gusts over 40-55 mph. For this reason, a Wind Advisory is in effect for western Utah, Uintah County, and lower Washington Counties.

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A strong cold front will be approaching the state this evening, bringing with it a surge of colder air and rain changing to snow in the valleys and potentially heavy snow in the mountains. Before the front arrives, we’re looking at increasing clouds and mild conditions. Highs will warm into the low to mid 60s across northern Utah, and into the lower 70s for southern Utah.

The cold front passage timing is looking to be the NW corner of the state between 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., down through Utah County between 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., and central and southern Utah after midnight.

The changeover from rain to snow will be pretty quick once the front passes through meaning the chance for some of the heavier moisture to linger with some cold air could lead to pockets of heavy snow even down to the valleys overnight.

Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for our north, central, and southern mountains Monday evening through Tuesday evening. A Winter Weather Advisory is also in effect for the Wasatch Front from Ogden down through Provo and Nephi. The advisory for the Wasatch Front goes into effect late Monday evening through Tuesday evening. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the southern Wasatch mountains where dangerous driving conditions are expected. Most state roads will deal with some snow slush and snow-covered roads for our Tuesday morning commute.

Snow totals look to range from 12-24″ for the S. Wasatch Mountains, to 6-12″ for most of the north and central mountains, 4-8″ for the Wasatch Back (above 5,500 feet) with 3-6″ for our Benches, and 1-3″ for the I-15 corridor along the Wasatch Front. 2-5″ will be possible for the Tooele Valley and SW higher valleys.

Snow showers will persist across much of north and central Utah at times during the day Tuesday, before beginning to wane into Tuesday early evening. Lake effect snow or Lake enhanced snow will be possible Tuesday night downwind of the Great Salt Lake.

Still some uncertainties on if and where the band will set up exactly, but could see additional snow accumulations with this feature into the Wednesday morning commute.

Wednesday will feature drier conditions and warmer conditions across the region. The spring equinox will be this Thursday and right now, the weather is looking very spring-like across southern Utah, with slightly below normal temps across northern Utah.

A few weaker systems will graze the state to the north, one on Thursday then again on Saturday. Temperature profiles indicate a chance for a rain-snow mix on Thursday, with mainly rain showers being a threat by the weekend.

Be sure to stay 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!

• Rain increases for n. Utah Friday evening
• Rain changes to snow around midnight Friday.
• Winter Weather Alerts in effect
• Travel impacts possible for Tuesday AM Commute
• Mtn snow likely again
• Unsettled weather to continue this week