This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Not quite spring, but no longer winter. That's a northern Utah weekend forecast Charles Dickens could have penned, seeing ahead to "March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

"Great Expectations," indeed.

As on Friday, the Wasatch Front will witness the mercury climb toward 60 degrees on Saturday and Sunday under clear, sun-drenched skies. But overnight lows will still be in a winter-like range of the low- to mid-30s.

In southern Utah, daytime highs this weekend will in the mid-60s to 70 degrees under sunny, mostly clear horizons. Nighttime lows are predicted to be in the upper-30s to low-40s.

A dickens of a forecast for Utah's Dixie, where "the bright sun that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness" will prevail.

Speaking of freshness in particular, the Utah Division of Air Quality hoisted its "green," or healthy air quality banners statewide through the weekend.

However, it takes more than a day or two or three days of pleasant weather to eradicate the potential for deadly snowslides in the state's snow-laden mountain backcountry. The Utah Avalanche Center rated the mountains above Provo and Moab, along with the Skyline district, at "considerable" risk; the remainder of the state's slopes were "moderate."

For more extensive forecast breakdowns visit the Tribune weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather/.

Twitter: @remims