and 8 p.m., we go from rain to heavy snow - that will quickly accumulate on roads," she said. "We'll have rain likely developing along the Wasatch Front through the afternoon. KSL meteorologist Kristen Van Dyke said the valley rain will turn to snow once a cold front arrives later in the day. Tuesday, as the rain picked up in intensity in the valleys. Some bench areas began receiving snow by about 2 p.m. Precipitation began with light rain along the Wasatch Front Tuesday morning in addition to mountain snow. The storm is arriving from the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, a high wind warning has also been issued for several places in southern Utah, where gusts up to 65 to 70 mph are likely Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. Most areas not included in a warning are listed under a winter weather advisory. That’s in the wake of the agency responding to nearly 100 crashes from early Tuesday morning into the afternoon.SALT LAKE CITY - Nearly all of Utah is included in a winter storm warning ahead of a " major winter storm" that can potentially deliver up to a foot of snow or more in some valley communities and multiple feet of snow in the mountains Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning. This week’s storm also wreaked havoc on the roads, with the Utah Highway Patrol reporting 43 crashes since 8:15 p.m. “We’re in the midst of a multidecade drought here, so it’s going to take a couple of winters with at least well above average snowfall to get us out of this hole,” Webber said. Some corners of Utah, specifically parts of Washington County and the entire eastern sliver are in moderate drought, which Webber calls “minor improvements.” But it will take more than one big storm to make a significant difference. Most of the state remains in severe to extreme drought, according to Utah’s drought monitor. It’s only mid-December, so we still have several months before we can really start to see what impact it will bring to the drought,” said Webber. “We tend to build snowpack all the way through April. Southern Utah is also experiencing an above-average winter, with parts of Washington, Kane and Garfield counties reporting nearly 200% of the median snow water equivalent.Įven with a hopeful outlook, it’s hard to say if this winter will have any impact on the decadeslong drought. Statewide snowpack is at 152% of normal levels, which is in the 81st percentile. That’s more snow than at least 91% of all other years on record. The region is currently at 190% to 200% of normal snow water equivalent - essentially how much water is in the snowpack. The storm is the latest in what has been an above-average winter for Utah, especially in the northern reaches of the state - the last time the Salt Lake-area mountains had this much snow was in December 2011. “So we very well could be stuck in some cooler temperatures, at least through the weekend.” “Especially with all this snow that we have, it’s going to help build that inversion even stronger,” he said. Those cold temperatures, combined with the new snow, could result in an inversion with bad air quality this weekend, says Webber. “There are some chances for really cold air to make it in here but it’s almost fleeting at this point,” said Sam Webber, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City. Once Thursday’s storm tapers off, northern Utah can expect drier weather with cool temperatures - there’s a chance those temperatures could dip below 15 degrees, although that’s on the extreme end of the National Weather Service’s forecast. At the National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office, the snow fell for over 33 hours straight. The Salt Lake City International Airport saw 11.7 inches, the most since February of last year.
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