This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If you have a pony you named "Wildfire," better move it out of the corral and into the barn: Utah's mountains may not be in for Michael Martin Murphey's lyrical killing frost, but they will be cold and snowy.
The National Weather Service put the mountains of central and southern Utah under a Winter Weather Advisory beginning 8 p.m. Wednesday and running through 9 p.m. Thursday. Areas especially considered at risk for up to 10 inches of snow include elevations above 7,500 feet from Manti south to Richfield, Escalante, Milford, Cedar City, Bryce Canyon and St. George.
A pocket of southeastern Utah, including the Monticello area, also is included in the advisory.
The peaks first will be pelted by icy rain and then will be hit with snow overnight and through Thursday morning, propelled by winds gusting up to 40 mph.
Along the lower elevations of the Wasatch Front in northern Utah, temperatures on Thursday will dip into the mid- to upper-50s with rain showers expected throughout the day. That forecast is quite a change from what was expected Wednesday, when the highs were pegged in the upper-60s under partly cloudy skies.
Southern Utahns looked for highs in the 60s and periodic rain showers throughout Thursday driven by winds up to 20 mph. That was pretty much the same forecast as Wednesday's for Utah's Dixie, albeit a few degrees cooler.
The Utah Division of Air Quality rated breathability statewide as "Green," or healthy. The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website's pollen index rated sage as "very high" and ragweed as "moderate."
Salt Lake City's high temperature on Thursday was expected to hit 58, down from Wednesday's 69 degrees; Ogden looked for 56 and 67 degrees, respectively; Provo 59 and 69; Logan 58 and 66; Wendover 59 and 61; Duchesne 54 and 64; Cedar City 50 and 64; St. George 63 and 74; and Moab 62 and 77 degrees.
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