This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Forecasters say a "very cold air mass" has moved into northern Utah, bringing frigid overnight temperatures, sub-freezing daytime "highs," light snow and breezes to make the midweek even more miserable.
But you don't need the National Weather Service to know that. As comic Ben Bailey puts it, "Everyone you see tells you that its really cold outside. . . . total strangers just yelling at you on the street, 'It's freezing out here!' "
Salt Lake City's pre-dawn Tuesday shivered some at 31 degrees, but Wednesday's low will tumble to a bone-chilling 14, and on Thursday temperatures plunge to just 8 degrees in the state capital. So-called highs through the midweek will range from the low-20s to around 30 degrees.
The forecast also calls for winds of 5-10 mph the next couple days, making it feel 5-7 degrees colder than what thermometers read, along with daily snowfalls of 1-2 inches in the valleys and 2-6 inches in the mountains of the Wasatch Front.
So, throw on that winter jacket. (And check the pockets, you might find forgotten treasure. . . a stale tube of Chapstick, a half-eaten, petrified Twinkie, or a tube of ointment for that once-mercifully-forgotten Rash of December 2015).
Or, you could motor down Interstate 15 to join southern Utahns, missed by the brutal cold front afflicting their northern cousins. While midweek overnight lows will be in the mid-20s to 30 degrees, Tuesday's forecast high was in the mid-50s in Utah's Dixie, while Wednesday and Thursday daytime temperatures will be in the mid- to upper-40s.
"Green," or health breathing conditions prevail through the midweek statewide, according to the Utah Division of Air Quality.
However, mountain backcountry winter recreationists were advised to proceed with caution by the Utah Avalanche Center website, where all the state's mountains — with the exception of the Abajo range (at "low") — were at "moderate" risk for potentially deadly snowslides as of Tuesday.
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.
Twitter: @remims