This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Another winter storm has zeroed in on the northern Wasatch Front, and this time it will focus much of its icy rage on the lower elevations.
Unlike Tuesday, when more than 3 feet of snow was reported at some mountain locations while generally failing to accumulate in valley locales, the storm arriving Wednesday night and continuing through Christmas will not spare the state's urban valleys.
A Winter Storm Warning for the state's Wasatch Mountains spine — from Logan south through Salt Lake City, Provo and Nephi to Richfield — expired 5 p.m. Wednesday. A Winter Weather Advisory covering Utah's northwest quarter ended at noon, just hours ahead of the next frosty blast.
Nonetheless, the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys continued to get periodic dustings of the white stuff as Wednesday dawned, and forecasters predicted 1-3 inches of new snow could accumulate during the afternoon hours. That snow was to stick, too, as daytime high temperatures struggled to reach the mid-30s; winds of 10-20 mph also were expected late in the day.
Fresh snow and reduced visibility had the Tuesday morning commute at a crawl along the Wasatch Front. By 9:30 a.m., about 30 crashes and slideoffs were reported by the Utah Highway Patrol; still, that was less than half of the total for Tuesday's snowy drivers' hell.
By Thursday morning, with lows in the teens, northern Utah will once again be locked into the storm with snow continuing through the day and into Friday.
Christmas Day also will bring light snow to southern Utahns, with high temperatures in the upper-30s. However, forecasts for Wednesday and Thursday called for warmer days in Utah's Dixie, in the low-50s, ahead of snowfall beginning Thursday night, when lows dip into the mid-20s.
The Utah Avalanche Center warned recreationists to stay away from the backcountry slopes packed with tons of unstable recent snowfall. Outside of maintained and monitored resort runs, the risk for deadly snowslides was "extreme" in the mountains above Provo. Conditions were hazardous for the mountains of the rest of the state, too, where "high" risk ratings were in place beginning Wednesday.
At least, you could dare to fill your lungs with fresh air: the Utah Division of Air Quality graded all of the state's monitoring locales as "green," or healthy for the rest of this week.
Snow totals for the storm ending Tuesday were impressive: 37 inches of new snow were measured at Brighton's crest, while Solitude reported 27 inches and the Park City summit 24. Alta and the Canyons resorts came in with 21 inches each; Power Mountain had 19; Snowbasin 18; South Ogden and the Bountiful bench 11.5; and Eden and Morgan 10.
For more extensive forecast information, visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather).
Twitter: @remims Travel restrictions •
Little Cottonwood was closed 12:30 a.m. through 8:30 a.m. Wednesday for avalanche control. Both Big and Little Cottonwood canyons were initially restricted to vehicles with four-wheel drive or tire chains through the morning hours.
Chains also were required on Highway 189 for semis, while Provo Canyon's SR-92 required chains or four-wheel-drive for all vehicles.
— Utah Department of Transportation