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Hi, I’m Monica Traphagan with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Salt Lake
City, UT. This briefing was created on the afternoon of December 21, 2012 and will
discuss our current thinking about potential travel impacts from a couple of winter storms
that will move through the area during the upcoming holiday weekend.
This graphic shows a quick overview of the weather through Christmas Day. High pressure
will remain in place through Saturday afternoon. A weak storm system will graze
Northern Utah Saturday Evening through Sunday afternoon, producing some light snow. A
more significant storm will affect the entire state Sunday night and Monday, potentially
resulting in very difficult travel on Monday. High pressure will return for Christmas, but
temperatures will be quite cold in the wake of the exiting storm system. Now, let’s go through
each period in a bit more detail.
For today through the first half of Saturday, fair weather will continue, so travel will not be
impacted. High clouds will increase Saturday ahead of the approaching storm system, and
there could be some breezy conditions, primarily over Southern Utah, but, again, this
will not impact travel.
The first storm system will move through the region Saturday evening through early Sunday,
grazing Northern Utah. Snow should be generally light and will primarily impact the
Northern Mountains. The brunt of the storm will pass north of the state, so those traveling
north of Utah may experience travel difficulties. The precipitation from this storm
is expected to taper off by Sunday afternoon.
The second and most significant of the storm systems will impact the entire state Sunday night
and Monday. Significant snow is possible throughout the state as this potent system passes
through, so avoid travel on Monday if at all possible.
That storm should exit the area by Tuesday, allowing high pressure to return for
Christmas Day. Morning low temperatures will be rather cold behind the exiting system,
but fair weather conditions are expected otherwise. High pressure is currently expected
to remain in place through Wednesday.
In summary, we are expecting fair weather conditions to continue through Saturday
morning. Two systems will impact Utah and Southwest Wyoming during the holiday
weekend. The first will graze Northern Utah Saturday night through Sunday morning, with a
much more significant system Sunday night and Monday that has the potential to result in
significant travel difficulties. High pressure should redevelop behind the system for Christmas
Day.
That concludes this weather briefing. Please continue to monitor our forecasts for any
changes in thinking. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at
utah.spotter@noaa.gov. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.