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SALT LAKE CITY — The National Weather Service issued a pair of winter weather advisories across the mountain ranges from northern to southern Utah ahead of another storm expected to once again bring the state a mixture of rain and snow Friday and Saturday.
The storm moved into northern Utah Friday evening. At about 6:50 p.m., the Utah Department of Transportation announced there were roadway restrictions in place for both directions on U.S. Highway 40 from Heber City to Fruitland, and traction devices were required.
Earlier in the day, UDOT tweeted that traction devices, chains, and 4x4 were required for all vehicles traveling in both directions for Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon.
#RoadUpdate Snowy and low visibility road conditions in upper canyon for #SR210 & #SR190. There have been slide offs in #SR210 adding to the road weather delays. Two plows are working each canyon, but may also be stuck in traffic. Drive w/ caution & obey the #TractionLaw 🚨 pic.twitter.com/6UYV0DjCT3
— UDOT Cottonwood Canyons (@UDOTcottonwoods) January 30, 2021
UDOT also advised drivers to proceed with caution due to the low visibility and conditions of state Route 210 and state Route 190.
The storm — much like one that arrived in northern Utah last weekend and southern Utah at the beginning of this week — is forecast to produce more snow in the mountains and provide a mixture of rain and snow in the valleys.
The mixture of rain and snow is expected to arrive in southern Utah by early afternoon. The northern half of the storm will make its way into the Wasatch Front and northern Utah later in the afternoon into the evening, said KSL meteorologist Grant Weyman.
"Amazing that for three days it's just been so slow-moving; now the storm is starting to affect southern California and that storm system will start to work its way into the southern part of our state around the noon hour," he said. "And then — throughout the afternoon — along the Wasatch Front."
The National Weather Service advisories in southern Utah went into effect Friday morning and remain in effect through the rest of the day, while advisories in the northern half of the state are in effect from noon Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday.
The weather service projects 6-12 inches of snow throughout mountainous areas in the state between those times. It also advised that winds could reach 40 mph in some mountainous areas in southern Utah.
The highest accumulations are expected in the upper Cottonwood canyons along the Wasatch and Wasatch Plateau in northern Utah and around Cedar Breaks National Monument and in the Pine Valley Range in southern Utah.
Northern Utah valleys could receive 1-3 inches but not as much as the mountain areas, Weyman added.
The storm is also expected to provide some driving challenges. Weather service officials wrote that winter driving conditions are forecast for all higher-elevation roads along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah Friday evening through early Saturday morning.
In southern Utah, the mix of snow and wind will also make high-elevation travel tricky. State Route 14 and state Route 143 were expected to be the most-impacted roads in the region.
Motorists are encouraged to slow down and use caution while driving.
As for those wandering around the mountains for outdoor activities, the Utah Avalanche Center issued advisories earlier this week throughout most of central and northern Utah's mountain ranges that remain in effect.
The storm will continue to tack on the ever-important snowpack totals, which is slightly improving but still below normal. Following the past week of storms, most of Utah's snowpack regions were listed between 50% to 60% of the normal for late January. The Escalante River basin in southern Utah entered Friday with the closest to normal at 81% while the Beaver River region was the lowest at 49%.
Weyman said that another storm is expected to reach Utah next week, possibly around midweek, which might provide even more snow for the mountains.
Full forecasts for areas across Utah can be found at the KSL Weather Center.
