This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Even Judge Roy Bean, whose usual remedy for Old West miscreants involved a rope, was helpless in the frozen season, "with its bitin', whinin' wind [when] and all the land will be mantled with snow."
And there you have northern Utah's weather the remainder of this week. Old Man Winter, scornful of any metaphorical or meteorological "Necktie Justice," blew into the Wasatch Front on an icy locomotive loaded with heavy snows for mountain and valley locales alike.
Beginning 3 p.m. Thursday, a Winter Storm Warning was in effect for the northern Wasatch Range, peaks and valleys alike, from Logan south through Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo. Forecasters expected anywhere from 2 to 10 inches of snow to accumulate along the region's valleys and benches, with 1-2 feet of the white stuff in the mountains by the time the advisory expires 3 p.m. Friday.
A Winter Weather Advisory also was in place during the same period for the southern Wasatch Front, including the cities of Tooele, Nephi and Price. Snowfall of 2-5 inches was predicted.
Throughout the state, winds of 10-20 mph, and gusting as high as 50 mph, will periodically drift snow and affect visibility on the region's freeways and highways.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys began Thursday with lows in the low-20s, and day's highs were forecast to climb no more than 5-7 degrees higher. Friday, with lows in the mid- to upper-20s, will warm to the low-40s, which will turn snow to icy rain during the afternoon hours.
On Saturday, a rain-snow mix is once more expected as overnight lows in the mid- to upper-30s give way to highs in the mid-40s.
The storm will miss southern Utah, where highs Thursday through Saturday in Utah's Dixie were forecast to be in the low- to mid-50s under partly cloudy skies. Overnight lows for the state's redrocks and high deserts will be in the mid- to upper-20s.
The Utah Division of Air Quality rates conditions as "green," or healthy statewide heading into the weekend.
However, the same stormy conditions scouring the urban valleys of pollution elevate the danger of potentially deadly mountain backcountry snowslides. The Utah Avalanche Center rated the risk of such events as "moderate" for the Logan, Uintas, Skyline and Moab districts, while the Ogden, Salt Lake, Provo and Abajo mountains were graded "low" for avalanche danger as of Thursday.
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.
Twitter: @remims