A massive cold front will brush by northern Utah Tuesday, sending temperatures plunging well below freezing in the predawn hours.
Tuesday afternoon highs along the Wasatch Front will struggle to reach the low- to mid-40s under mostly cloudy skies — a 20-degree drop over just a couple days’ time.
Overnight lows, in the low-30s early Monday morning, slide into the mid-20s early Tuesday in the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys.
In other words, it is time to winterize those sprinklers and check the heat tape and insulation on those crawlspace water pipes.
The National Weather Service says this cold front is primarily targeting northern California, the Pacific Northwest and western Montana, but a secondary downstream, westerly flow is what brought valley rain and mountain snow to northern Utah Monday.
Southern Utahns escape that cold air and precipitation. Tuesday’s highs under partly sunny horizons will be in the upper-60s, after a cloudy Monday’s 70-degree temperatures in the redrocks and high deserts.
Of course, any storm activity is the friend of Utahns’ lungs: the Utah Division of Air Quality forecast “green,” or healthy conditions statewide through Tuesday.
Follow @remims