Winter storm warnings, advisories expanded to Utah's valleys in rare move this season

SALT LAKE CITY — Winter is finally arriving in Utah's valleys, but that could make for a tricky commute Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service on Tuesday expanded its winter storm warning to additional parts of northern and southwest Utah, including Beaver, Cedar City and Logan, where 2 to 8 inches of snow are possible between late Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. That's on top of any snow that falls earlier Tuesday, as the latest storm system finally dropped temperatures cold enough for valley snow.

Federal forecasters also issued winter weather advisories covering most other valley communities across northern, central and southern Utah. The alerts, which take effect early Wednesday, advise that 1 to 4 inches of snow are possible along the valley floors, and higher amounts close to 6 inches are possible along valley benches.

The heaviest snowfall is expected between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., which poses travel concerns.

"Many roads across the state will see at least light road snow as the cold front moves through. Much of the Wasatch Front urban corridor will see light/moderate road snow throughout the Wednesday morning commute," the Utah Department of Transportation wrote in a road weather alert.

While most of the snow will remain in the mountains, the valley snow will come from a "potent" cold front passing through the state in the morning, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson. It has the potential to deliver widespread snow during the normal peak commute hours, while also delivering heavy snowfall in the mountains, where winter storm warnings are in place.

Scattered snow showers are possible through Wednesday afternoon and even into the evening for the state's mountains.

Drivers are urged to use "high caution" while traveling through roads in Beaver, Cedar City and other mid-elevation parts of southwest Utah, as well as valleys in northern Utah and many high-elevation passes in the state, according to UDOT. That includes sections of Interstate 15, I-80 and I-84.

"Moderate caution" is urged in many other routes across the state, except for the St. George area and parts of southeast Utah.

It's a rare advisory for Utah's lower elevations this winter, as this year hasn't produced much snow. Salt Lake City entered this week with just 0.1 inches of snowfall collected this season, which is over a foot below the record low of 14.3 inches set during the 1933-1934 season.

A similar story has played out across the state.

One of the weather service's sites in Logan has received only 5.1 inches of snow this year, a total that could double by the end of Wednesday. Provo has only collected 0.5 inches of snow, a few feet below its normal by now. Panguitch received 4.5 inches of snow from a storm that slammed southern Utah on Nov. 30, but only 0.1 inches outside that before this week, per weather service data.

"We just haven't been getting cores of storms (this season). They've been dodging us, but this one is going to move through," Johnson said.

The projected snow follows strong winds recorded ahead of the storm. Wind gusts of 55 to 65 mph were reported all over Utah's western half on Monday, and gusts even peaked at 89 mph near the marina at Great Salt Lake State Park. Several residents submitted photos of downed trees in their yards, while the Utah Department of Transportation briefly restricted high-profile vehicles from traveling on I-80 in Tooele County.

Some additional strong gusts are likely again on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the next major band of snow, Johnson said. He adds that more snow is expected to impact Utah's northern half by Thursday night, lingering into Friday morning.

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

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