Warm before the storm: Record-breaking temps make way for wind, rain and snow

SALT LAKE CITY — Spring might have started just a week ago, but temperatures hit record-highs three days in a row in Salt Lake City this weekend, and scores of daily records were also smashed across the state.

However, the short run is coming to an end. High temperatures will remain above average Monday but strong wind gusts — strong enough for the National Weather Service to issue a wind advisory for the western portion of the state — are helping to cool down from the weekend's record-breaking warmth.

The weather service also issued a winter advisory for the west Uintas and southern mountains, which goes into effect early Monday evening and remains in effect through Wednesday morning, for a storm that has the potential of bringing up to or near a foot of snow to Utah's mountains, while most other places will receive rain.

"This is good, right? We need all the rain. But it's definitely a change from that warm, dry weekend," said KSL meteorologist Grant Weyman.

Daily temperature records broken across the state

Temperatures reached 79 degrees Sunday in Salt Lake City, beating the previous daily record high temperature of 76 degrees recorded in 1895 — 127 years earlier. Saturday saw similar temperatures, with another record-breaking 79 degrees, breaking the 1960 record of 78 degrees. On Friday, the previous record from 1968, 75 degrees, was broken when temperatures hit 78 degrees.

While Salt Lake City ultimately didn't break its record for the earliest 80-degree day, parts of the Salt Lake Valley and Wasatch Front did reach 80 degrees over the weekend.

Here are some other daily high-temperature records broken over the past three days:

Friday

• Alta: 55 degrees (tying the previous record set in 2012)
• Cedar City: 74 degrees (the previous record was 72 set in 1960)
• Fillmore: 79 degrees (the previous record was 78 set in 1895)
• Kanab: 80 degrees (the previous record was 77 set in 1956)
• Kodachrome Basin State Park: 76 degrees (the previous record was 73 set in 2004)
• Provo: 76 degrees (tying the previous record set in 2004)

Saturday

• Alta: 56 degrees (tying the previous record set in 1945)
• Altamont, Duchesne County: 72 degrees (the previous record was 69 set in 1960)
• Cedar City: 76 degrees (the previous record was 72 set in 1988)
• Kanab: 81 degrees (the previous record was 77 set in 1956)
• Kodachrome Basin State Park: 77 degrees (the previous record was 73 set in 2000)
• Scipio, Millard County: 76 degrees (the previous record was 73 set in 1905)
• Spanish Fork: 78 degrees (the previous record was 76 set in 2004)
• Woodruff, Rich County: 70 degrees (the previous record was 64 set in 2007)

Sunday

• Altamont, Duchesne County: 71 degrees (the previous record was 67 set in 1953)
• Escalante, Garfield County: 75 degrees (the previous record was 74 set in 2015)
• Eskdale, Millard County: 77 degrees (tying the previous record set in 2015)
• Hanksville, Wayne County: 85 degrees (the previous record was 82 set in 1927)
• Manti: 73 degrees (the previous record was 72 set in 1986)
• Provo: 79 degrees (the previous record was 78 set in 1986)
• Spanish Fork: 78 degrees (tying the previous record set in 1986)
• Tooele: 80 degrees (the previous record was 73 set in 2000)
• Woodruff, Rich County: 69 degrees (ties the previous record set in 2015)

Wind, snow and rain

There are still strong southerly winds coming ahead of the next storm. The weather service issued a wind advisory for the western portion of the state from the Utah-Idaho border to Cedar City, which remains in effect through 8 p.m. Monday.

The forecast calls for sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph and wind gusts of 45 mph throughout the day, the weather service wrote in the alert.

"Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects," the alert states. "Strong crosswinds are possible on east-west routes, including I-80 from Wendover to Lake Point and U.S. 6 west of I-15 to the Nevada border."

Then comes the precipitation as a low-pressure system arrives from the west. Rain is expected across the state Monday afternoon.

"By 6 p.m., we could be looking at some pretty heavy high-elevation snow, with some rain that could be on the heavy side too," Weyman said.

Precipitation is expected to last for most of the state throughout Tuesday, as the pattern produces more precipitation from the north behind the low-pressure system, KSL meteorologist Kristin Van Dyke added. It may linger into "very early Wednesday morning," but more sunshine and dry conditions are expected for most of Wednesday as the storm clears.

In its winter weather advisory, the weather service wrote that 5 to 10 inches of snow is forecast for Utah's west Uintas and southern mountains between Monday and Wednesday. The alert covers areas like the Mirror Lake Highway, Alton and Brian Head; adding that some parts of the area may receive more than 10 inches.

Van Dyke said places like Alta may receive 2 to 6 inches of snow, as well. Most of the state, especially its valleys, will receive rain. She said weather models project that anywhere from a quarter of an inch to a half-inch of rain by the time the storm clears.

"This could be a pretty decent storm for us when it comes to the rain," she said.

There's a potential for more precipitation Thursday and again by the end of the weekend, according to Weyman.

That's good for a statewide snowpack that has already started to melt some. Utah's snowpack is 75% of normal heading into the week, dropping 1.5 inches of water since Wednesday. If Wednesday is indeed the peak, this year's snow collection peak is about a week and a half before the normal peak of April 4 — and this year will end at about 83% of the 30-year average of 14.3 inches of water in the snow.

Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.

Contributing: Lisi Merkley

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