This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Renewed surges of heavy mountain snowfall elevated risks for potentially deadly snowslides along the slopes of northern and central Utah's mountain backcountry heading into the new work week.
The U.S. Forest Service issued a Backcountry Avalanche Watch through Sunday evening, and forecasters said that advisory likely would be elevated to a more serious regional Avalanche Warning on Monday. The affected area included the Wasatch Range from the Idaho border south to as far as Richfield and Green River. Portions of the western Uintas also were on alert.
The Utah Avalanche Center rated the state's mountains at "moderate" to "considerable" risk for slides early Sunday, but forecasters expected those ratings to climb to "high," or possibly "extreme" as the impact of heavy snow and wind came to bear.
Indeed, beginning Monday afternoon and running through Wednesday night, a Winter Storm Watch was to be in effect for the Wasatch Mountains both north and south of Interstate 80. That area encompassed Woodruff, Randolph, Alta, Brighton, Fish Lane, the Scofield Reservoir, Cove Fort, the Book Cliffs and the Mirror Lake Highway, as well as the western Uintas.
Snowfall of 1-to-3 feet was possible, with the bulk of that expected along the Wasatch Range.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys had snow forecast throughout Sunday, though with daytime highs in the upper-30s no new accumulations were expected. Overnight, however, temperatures in the upper-20s will allow up to 2 inches to blanket the area. Monday was to bring daytime snow flurries and highs in the low-40s.
Late Sunday morning into Sunday afternoon, the Utah Department of Transportation restricted both Big and Little Cottonwood canyons to four-wheel-drive or tire-chained vehicles.
The precipitation in southern Utah was to primarily be in the form of rain. Highs Monday were forecast for the upper-40s in Utah's Dixie, the same as Sunday, with overnight lows in the mid-30s.
So, it may be wet and chilly out there, but at least the air will be clean. The Utah Division of Air Quality graded all of the state's monitoring stations — with the exception of the Uintas, which were "moderate" — as "green," or healthy, heading into the new work week.
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