This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Hope you didn't mothball those sweaters or box up your slickers, because Utah's spring is being rudely brushed aside by a wet, windy and in the mountains, even snowy wintry weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory through 6 p.m. Saturday for an area encompassing the western Uintas, Wasatch Plateau, Book Cliffs, and the central and southern mountains. From 6 to 12 inches of snow — and even more than that in some locales — were expected, mostly falling above 7,000 feet elevation.
Strong, gusting winds accompany this storm, bringing the danger of drifting snow along mountain passes and exposed roadways. Indeed, heavy snow led to travel in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons being restricted to tire-chained or four-wheel-drive vehicles during Friday morning's commute.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys — enduring both wind-driven rain and snow, along with thunderstorms on Friday — expected a calmer, partly cloudy Saturday. Weekend high temperatures were to range in the mid- to upper-50s.
Southern Utahns, with the exception of the storm-whipped mountains, expected to escape much of the precipitation forecast further north. After Friday's scattered rain and isolated thunderstorms, Saturday was to bring 20-30 mph winds, with gusts up to 60 mph, but otherwise dry, partly cloudy skies and high temperatures in the 70s.
So, you may be buffeted, but at least the air will be fresh. The Utah Division of Air Quality awarded its "green," or healthy grades statewide through the weekend.
Alas, allergy sufferers remain martyrs to the pollen. The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that oak, cedar and sycamore pollens were "very high" as of Friday, while maple was "high" and cottonwood and ash at "moderate" levels.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
Twitter: @remims