SALT LAKE CITY — There's lots of fresh show on the ground Tuesday morning, and much of it came from a “snow squall.” But what exactly does that mean?
Many Utahns experienced their phones buzzing to a new warning Monday night.
This was actually the first one ever issued for the Wasatch Front.
WATCH: Snow squall hits northern Utah
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City described snow squalls as very intense bands of heavy snow that can cause whiteout conditions with very strong winds and heavy snowfall.
We know a lot of people experienced their first snow squall warning, a relatively new type of warning for the western United States. It was the first one issued for the Wasatch Front, too! We thought we'd share more info about what a snow squall is. #utwx pic.twitter.com/xCxNV9vkJi
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) December 28, 2021
They can also bring rapidly cooling temperatures causing very dangerous road conditions to develop very quickly.
The good news: snow squalls are typically very short events.
But, this combination of falling temperatures, white-out conditions, heavy snowfall, gusty winds and quickly deteriorating road conditions make them a particularly hazardous phenomenon.
The National Weather Service said that these kinds of emergency alerts could be issued more frequently now that we've experienced one.
