This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
If you were dreaming of a White Christmas, Utah, you'll get it — in spades (heaped with snow).
Indeed, keeping with meteorological-holiday metaphors, that dream could be more of a nightmare: The National Weather Service placed almost the entire state under a Winter Storm Warning through the holiday weekend and into early Monday morning.
From Logan south through Salt Lake City, Provo, Cedar City and Zion National Park, along with the western Uintas and the West Desert, 4 to 8 inches of show was predicted for valleys locations and 10 to 16 inches along benches and the Wasatch Back between 8 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Monday.
Driven by southerly winds at times gusting to 50 mph, the bulk of that maelstrom of white will come on Saturday. The snowfall will taper off Sunday morning in the valleys, but continue in the mountains well into Monday morning.
The Utah Department of Transportation says accumulating and drifting snow, slush and patches of ice means holiday travelers need to be especially wary. In particular, UDOT predicts the worst stretches of interstate will be I-15 between Fillmore and Cedar City, and I-84 near the Utah-Idaho border.
Along with slowing down and altering travel times, drivers would be well-advised to carry an emergency winter survival kit — warm clothes, blankets, extra food, water, flashlights and batteries, etc., UDOT officials say.
Several pockets of Utah also were under a Winter Storm Watch on Friday through Sunday evening. An area from Vernal north to the Wyoming border, east-central Utah just north of Green River, and the Monticello region of southeastern Utah looked for 10 to 20 inches for the period, with winds gusting up to 40 mph.
The Utah Division of Air Quality, at least, loves all this frosty, unsettled weather: air quality grades statewide were "green," or healthy for the Christmas weekend.
The Utah Avalanche Center assessed all the state's mountains — with the exception of central Utah's Skyline district, which was "low" — as "moderate" for the risk of potentially deadly backcountry snowslides.
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page here.
To check on current winter road alerts visit UDOT here.
Twitter: @remims