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This is Glen Merrill, Forecaster with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City,
Utah. Today is Friday November 9th, 2012… and this briefing will look at the additional
snowfall and the associated impacts of that snowfall over the next few days.
As of early this afternoon…a cold pacific storm system has begun to impact the state…and
will continue to do so into Sunday before clearing. The leading edge cold
front…signified as the blue line in the image… will continue to march east allowing much
colder and snowier weather to move through all of Utah by Saturday morning.
Accumulating snowfall will continue to steadily fall across the north and west well
into this evening before tapering. Snowfall will then turn showery overnight tonight
and remain showery through the day Saturday. During that time snow showers will be most
numerous over Utah’s mountains and areas southeast of the Great Salt Lake. Beginning Saturday
evening…the threat of Lake Effect Snowfall will increase southeast of the Great Salt
Lake…including the Salt Lake Metro Area. By midday Sunday snowfall will end with low
clouds breaking allowing for some afternoon sun.
Let’s take a look at the anticipated travel impacts for the remainder of the storm
event…Beginning with this evening’s commute. Focused concern for travel impacts are
expected approaching and summiting Parley’s Summit on Interstate 80, Daniels Summit
on Highway 40, Soldier Summit on Highway 6, and the summits around Cove Fort along both
Interstates 15 and 70. Additionally, motorists should be aware of periodic road slush
in the valleys, along with areas of icing on bridges and overpasses during the overnight
hours. Additionally, periodic snowy and icy roads on other mountain passes and canyons is
expected across the state. As always, we encourage everyone to visit the UDOT link at the
bottom right hand corner for more detailed Road impact forecasts and conditions.
So, is it going to…just snow non stop all the way into Sunday? Again, no…not really. The
widespread and steady snowfall that many areas saw today will actually taper to snow showers
tonight. Additional snowfall will remain showery through Saturday focusing on the
Mountains and areas southeast of the Great Salt Lake. Areal extent of snow showers will,
however, increase Saturday Night across the north…before tapering again Sunday morning.
It will all wrap up on Sunday, with partial clearing by the afternoon hours. So here’s the
breakdown…another 2-4” valleys and benches across the west, 8-18” in the northern
mountains, and 6-12” in the southern mountains. You may see that little * next to the
valleys and benches snow amounts…well that’s there to note that greater accumulations
are likely south and east of the Great Salt Lake due to lake effect snow.
I’ve been mentioning those additional accumulations due to lake effect throughout this
briefing, so…what’s our confidence on Lake Effect snow both tonight and Saturday Night?
Well, we have high confidence that areas south and east of the lake will see those
enhanced totals due to lake effect. Breaking it down more…we have medium confidence
that those enhanced accumulations will fall between Ogden and North Salt Lake
tonight…and between Farmington and Lehi, including Tooele, Saturday night. How much snow
will come from any lake effect band that does develop however, remains a low confidence
forecast at this time.
So in summary…cold and snowy conditions will continue through the weekend.
Accumulating snowfall will turn more showery later this evening, but areas of road
slush and bridge icing will remain a threat in the valleys, as will snowy and icy roads in
the mountains. Storm total accumulations still look to fall in the 1-2 foot range in
the northern mountains, and up to a foot and a half in the southern mountains, while many
valley areas across the west will see 2-4” of additional accumulation…with a little more
south and east of the Great Salt Lake. And, although not snowy in Dixie, hard freeze
conditions can be expected during the early morning hours this weekend.
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. Thanks again…