This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The weather outside is frightful, and staying indoors might not be all that delightful — but that might be better than risking travel on some of Utah's wintry roads.
"Let it snow, make it so," Star Trek's Capt. Jean-Luc Picard might say. It will, but at a diminished rate from the region's Christmas storm. Some snow was continuing to add to Utah's mountain accumulations Friday as daytime temperatures also plunged below freezing. That trend toward the chilly, which includes overnight lows in the teens along the Wasatch Front, was to continue into the weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning through noon Friday for the southwestern quarter of the state, an area of potential white-knuckle driving extending from Nephi south to Bryce Canyon and southwest to St. George. The Interstate 15 corridor in particular was subject to new snowfall and icy conditions.
A Winter Weather Advisory was in place for a stretch of eastern Utah from Vernal running south through Moab and Monticello through 6 p.m. Friday. An additional couple inches of snow were expected in the higher elevations, especially north of Interstate 40. Again, icy road conditions had the Utah Highway Patrol urging travelers to slow down.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys could look for occasional, mostly light snow showers into Saturday evening. Daytime highs were expected to be in the upper-20s and lows in the teens.
Southern Utahns, meantime, will see temperatures in the upper-30s to low-40s on Saturday with nighttime lows in the low- to mid-20s. Partly cloudy skies will be the rule with little or no valley snowfall expected.
The Utah Avalanche Center rated the risk for potentially deadly mountain snowslides as "considerable" statewide as of Friday.
The Utah Division of Air Quality graded monitoring stations statewide as "green," or healthy, into this coming weekend.
For more extensive forecast information, visit the Tribune's weather page at: sltrib.com/weather.
Twitter: @remims Road Weather Highlights for Road Snow, Patchy Ice •
For Northern Utah:
Flurries and light snow showers will remain a threat, mainly over northern mountain routes, through Friday. Travel will continue to be impacted by light road snow and areas of ice over many mountain routes through 9 A.M. Friday morning. Most mountain valley routes trend wet by Friday afternoon, but a heavier snow shower could briefly slush up roadways. Patchy ice will once again become a concern from 5 P.M. Friday through 9 A.M. Saturday, as lingering moisture on roadways refreezes Friday night. Other than some lingering flurries, precipitation across northern valley routes has come to an end. Patchy ice and pockets of blowing snow will remain a threat through 9 A.M. Friday morning. Impacted routes will include, but are not limited to:
· I-15, ID state line through Provo
· I-84, Entire Route
· I-80, near Wendover and from Low to the Wyoming state line
· SR-30, Entire Route
· US-89, All Northern routes
· US-189, through Provo Canyon
· US-40, Entire Route
· US-191, Entire Route
· SR-190 & SR-210, Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons
· SR-39, from Ogden through Monte Cristo
· SR-158, from Eden to Powder Mountain
· SR-65, through Big Mountain Pass
· SR-150, from Kamas through Bald Mountain Pass
· SR-35, from Fancis through Wolf Creek Pass
For Central/Southern Utah:
Periods of snow will continue across central and southern portions of the state through early Friday morning, with periodic snow showers lingering through the day. Travel will continue to be impacted by areas of road snow ice through 9 A.M. Friday morning. Most valley routes trend wet by Friday afternoon, but a heavier snow shower could briefly slush up roadways. Showers are expected to end early Friday evening. Areas of ice will then become a concern from 5 P.M. Friday through 9 A.M. Saturday morning. Impacted routes will include, but are not limited to:
· I-15, Spanish Fork to Black Ridge (near Kanarraville)
· US-89, Thistle through Kanab
· US-6, NV state line to I-15 Junction & Spanish Fork to Helper
· US-6, Price to Green River
· US-191, Entire Route
· US-50, Delta to Holden and Scipio to Salina
· US-491, from Monticello to the Colorado border
· SR-31, Fairview Canyon through Huntington Canyon
· I-70, I-15 Junction to CO state line
· SR-20
· SR-12, from Panguitch to Torrey
· SR-14 & SR-143, near Brian Head
· SR-24, from Richfield to Torrey
· SR-153, from Beaver to Puffer Lake
— Utah Department of Transportation