SALT LAKE CITY — The first wave of storms that struck most of Utah on Thursday brought snow to the northern Utah valleys and mountains, as well as precipitation where it is much-needed in southern Utah.
But that was just the first wave with a lot more on the way just ahead and during the holiday weekend.
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The Utah Department of Transportation reported 180 crashes on state roadways Thursday. Incidents on Interstate 15 and Interstate 80 caused slowdowns, including a fatal crash that closed the southbound lanes of I-15 in Pleasant View after a man crashed into the back of a semi-truck.
An Avalanche Watch is also in effect through Saturday at 6 p.m., with avalanche danger expected to rise to "high" going into the weekend.
Most of the snow has moved out of the Wasatch Front with only rain forecast for the northern valleys in Salt Lake County as temperatures begin to rise. Northern areas could still see snow accumulation throughout the evening.
Ogden residents deal with winter storm blast:
A new front is forecast to arrive on Friday afternoon after a brief warm-up, causing slushy conditions along roadways up and down the state. The rain will turn to snow overnight Friday and into Saturday morning in northern Utah before fizzling out in the afternoon.
Projected mountain snow totals by Saturday:
- Cottonwoods & Bear River Range: 24-36 inches
- Pine Valley Mountains & Brian Head: Up to 36 inches
- Park City area: 18 inches
- Wasatch Back: 8-14 inches
- Central Mountains: 12-24 inches
- Southern Mountains: 10-20 inches
- Bryce Canyon Country: 4-8 inches
Southern Utah will see less rain beginning late Friday with mostly sunny conditions through the weekend.
The storm is a welcome relief down south as St. George hasn’t seen any measurable precipitation since the day before Thanksgiving — around 77 days ago. Based on records dating back to the early 1980s, this is the driest it’s ever been in terms of snow water content.
Before Thursday, Gardner Peak in the Pine Valley Mountains was at just 22% of its average snowpack, while the La Sal Mountains were not much better, with only 33% of the typical snow accumulation for this time of year.
The snowpack across much of southern Utah is notably sparse in these areas: 67% in Beaver, 50% in Upper Sevier, 17% in Southwest, 33% in Escalante, and 47% in Southeast.
Dan Pope spoke with Hayden Mahan, a hydrology meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.
"So we're actually anywhere between six to seven inches of water below normal, below where we should be this time of year," Mahan said. "So even if we get one to maybe even up to three inches, we're going to need to do that two or three more times in order to catch up to where we should be this time of year."
Thanks to the wetter-than-usual conditions over the past two years, the reservoirs are above average right now.
However, the bigger concerns for agriculture, gardening, and even regular household water use could arise next year if the dry conditions persist.
