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SALT LAKE CITY — Some Utah mountains have seen significant June snowfall as a rare weather system caused a 50-degree temperature swing over the weekend.
At least 8-12 inches of snow had fallen at Alta Ski Area by mid-morning Monday, according to Wasatch Snow Forecast. Brighton reported 6.5 inches of snow as of Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
A hard freeze warning was issued for the Wasatch Mountain Valleys from 10 p.m. Monday to 9 a.m. Tuesday, the weather service reported.
Temperatures are expected to drop into the upper 20s overnight and experts warned low temperatures could put crops at risk.
June-uary in Big Cottonwood Canyon #utwxpic.twitter.com/z9wqiAvQUq
— Sean Moody (@SeanMoodyKSL) June 8, 2020
In the last week, Utah has experienced golfball-sized hail, 75-mile-per-hour wind gusts, the earliest 100-degree day on record in Salt Lake City on Friday and now June snow in the mountains, the weather service said.
As of late Sunday afternoon, most areas in Salt Lake County had received at least .4 inches of precipitation, according to the weather service. Sandy recorded about 1.5 inches, according to the weather service.
Rain and snow is still expected for the Wasatch Front throughout Monday, with some scattered rain showers and thunderstorms, according to KSL Meteorologist Grant Weyman.
Early Monday powder adventure! On June 8th. I measured 8" at Albion Lodge and just over 12" at mid-mountain. Still snowing! #utwx@weatherchannel@accuweather@wunderground@kslweather@AltaSkiArea@realDonaldTrumppic.twitter.com/ne2te3Army
— Wasatch Snow Forecast (@WasatchSnow) June 8, 2020
Tuesday will start off cool, with temperatures reaching the upper 60s later in the day, Weyman said. Temperatures will climb each day this week and will be back to a more seasonally normal range in the 90s by the end of the week, he added.
The storm that moved through Utah this weekend was known as a “derecho” and is extremely rare for parts of Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, according to the weather service. Only two similar systems have been documented west of the Rocky Mountains, once in May 1994 and again in June 2002, the weather service said.
Derechos are widespread, long-lasting windstorms that typically include bands of fast-moving thunderstorms or rain showers, according to the weather service.
The full weather forecast is available at ksl.com/weather.
