Sunday’s storm, which brought an inch or two of snow to the Salt Lake Valley, is the last significant precipitation expected along the Wasatch Front this week. But, boy, it’s going to be cold.
And windy. Gusts of up to 60 mph were expected Monday night in northern Utah, with downslope winds from the Wasatch Mountains blasting Davis County. Winds around 30 mph were blowing snow over roadways in northern Salt Lake and southern Davis counties, and high-profile vehicles like semitrailer trucks could be at risk of toppling, said Monica Traphagan, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Drivers in the Farmington and Centerville areas should “use extreme caution,” Traphagan said.
Light, lake-effect snow tapered off in northern Utah by midday Monday. According to the National Weather Service, “the main story will be the arrival of some of the coldest air of the season.”
If you’re planning on attending an outdoor celebration on New Year’s Eve, bundle up. Temperatures at midnight will be as low as 10 degrees — 22 degrees colder than at the same time last year — and they’ll continue to drop overnight. The forecast low on New Year’s Day morning is 7 in Salt Lake City — which will be considerably warmer than Park City, where temperatures are expected to plummet to -8, according to the NWS forecast.
Even St. George is going to start out frigid, at just 18 degrees. It will, at least, be above freezing in that southern Utah City, with a high near 40.
The forecast highs for the Wasatch front for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are in the low- to mid-20s, with lows in the single digits. On New Year’s Day, the high is expected to be 20, which is about 20 degrees below normal.
It’s not just the low temperatures that will be problematic. The NWS warns that a high pressure system will build in the region through the end of the week, creating an inversion and bad air quality.
Temperatures are not expected to go above freezing in Salt Lake City until Friday. The next storm, which could clear out the inversion, isn’t expected until Saturday night into Sunday.
