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Hi, this is Nanette Hosenfeld with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City in
Utah. Here’s a quick briefing on the winter storm that will continue to bring snow to the
state through Sunday. The main impacts that we’re expecting through Sunday are difficult
driving conditions overnight, and the potential for more power outages as tree branches
become weighed down with snow.
The weather disturbance that brought snow to the area beginning Friday is moving overhead. As it slowly moves eastward, we’ll see snow
continue for one more day into Sunday.
As far as impacts from the storm, travel will be difficult Saturday and Sunday across high elevation roadways where steady snowfall is
expected. Along the Wasatch Front, travel will become difficult this evening as roads cool and snow begins to stick to the roadways. Snow
showers may become heavy at times, resulting in reduced visibilities and hazardous driving conditions. See UDOT for road weather
forecasts. Also, with even more snow expected to fall, power outages are possible as snow piles up on trees and breaks branches. Lake effect
snow will bring additional snowfall to the Wasatch Front. The higher terrain of central and northern Utah will see accumulating snow
through Sunday.
So, you’re probably wondering: how much longer is all of this snow going to last?! This snowy weekend has been quite the change from the
near record warmth earlier in the week. Let’s take a look at how much longer these wintry conditions will last.
Snowfall is expected to continue across central and northern Utah through Sunday morning. Across the mountains and higher terrain of
central and northern Utah, snow showers will be pretty much continuous, though periods of heavier snowfall are expected. Along the valleys
of the Wasatch Front, snow will also continue into Sunday morning, but will be more periodic. There may be periods of clearing, but
intermittent snowfall is expected through Sunday. Additional accumulations will be the greatest in the northern mountains, where 5 to
10 inches of snow is expected to fall through Sunday morning. Areas that are favored by northwesterly flow will see locally higher
amounts. The central Utah mountains will see slightly less snow, with around 3 to 6 additional inches. As far as valley accumulations,
generally 2 to 6 inches is expected, mainly in Davis and Salt Lake counties. Now, the big wildcard in this storm is lake effect snow, and
depending on which areas see lake effect snow, higher accumulations are possible.
So, I’ve mentioned lake effect snow a few times. We are fairly confident that lake effect snow will continue off of the Great Salt Lake into Sunday
morning. However, it is not quite as clear exactly which areas will be impacted by lake effect snow. Right now, it looks like the areas that are
most likely to see lake effect snow are in Davis and Salt Lake counties. Our area of lowest confidence is regarding exactly how much snow
will fall underneath a lake effect band. Generally, we’re expecting 3 to 6 inches, but higher amounts are possible.
To summarize, snow will continue to fall through Sunday morning. This snowfall is expected to result in difficult travel this evening and additional
power outages. As far as timing, higher elevations will see steady snow through Sunday morning. Valleys along the Wasatch Front will
see periodic snow showers into Sunday morning. What happens along the Wasatch Front depends largely on which areas see lake
effect snow.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at nws.saltlakecity@noaa.gov. You
can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.