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SALT LAKE CITY — Memorial Day weekend may be the unofficial start of summer but it's going to look a lot more like winter in the mountains across the northern half of Utah.
The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a winter weather advisory that goes into effect Sunday morning and remains in effect through 6 p.m. on Memorial Day for areas above 7,500 feet in the Wasatch and western Uinta mountain ranges, where 6 to 12 inches of snow are forecast over the span of the advisory.
Mountain snow will lead to accumulating road snow on higher elevation passes, particularly during the overnight hours Sunday and Monday. Be prepared for travel impacts if travelling these routes over the holiday weekend. #utwxpic.twitter.com/nQ41dD58Es
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) May 29, 2022
Some areas may even receive over a foot of snow. Alta, for example, may end up receiving 12 to 18 inches of snow, according to a snow model tweeted by the weather service's Salt Lake City office.
Plan on slushy road conditions at times over mountain passes, especially overnight and during periods of heavier snow," the agency wrote in the alert. "Plan on cold, wintry conditions."
The snow is a bit of a surprise in terms of mountain snow accumulation. Only about 0.7 inches of water is still left in the statewide snowpack as the snowmelt season nears the end, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service data.
Snow is also a possibility for areas at 6,500 feet of elevation Sunday and Monday, said KSL meteorologist Kristen Van Dyke. Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Wasatch Front valleys.
The cooler temperatures are a result of a trough moving into Utah from the Pacific Northwest following a cold front that passed through the Beehive State Saturday.
"This is going to be quite the game-changer for us," Van Dyke said. "We just get waves of showers and thunderstorms rolling through during the day on Sunday. ... We may break out of the wet weather only for more to arrive. These are heftier showers bringing more downpours and some snow for the higher elevations."
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
