It’s expected to get relatively warm in Utah this weekend, but first, thunderstorms and yet another snowstorm are expected this week.
A storm front made its way into northern Utah on Monday afternoon, bringing rain and hail in some areas, along with lightning and wind gusts of 40-50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm was expected to drop temperatures into the low 50s, which “will set the stage for widespread snow showers across northern and central Utah mountains and yes, even some potential for lake-enhanced snow showers downwind of the Great Salt Lake,” according to the weather service.
Early Tuesday, northern Utah valleys could see trace amounts of snow, or up to 1 inch in some areas, with more possible on the benches. A few inches are expected in northern Utah’s mountains, with the highest totals expected — 4-9 inches — in the Cottonwoods and the Bear River Range.
Lake-effect snow possible
Although May is only a week away, a “high-end scenario suggests” that the Oquirrhs and benches in the western Salt Lake Valley could get up to 9 inches of “lake-enhanced snowfall” on Tuesday morning.
The National Weather Service cautioned that, “as with any lake-effect event, large ranges in conditions will be experienced across short distances.”
The cold front is expected to move out of the state by Wednesday, leaving behind clearer and drier conditions and temperatures in the mid- to upper 60s, which is considered at or slightly above normal.
Temperatures will continue to rise into the weekend, reaching 70-80 degrees, about 5-15 degrees above normal. There’s a 50% chance temperatures will rise above 80 on Sunday, and a 70% chance on Monday.
That would hasten the melting of Utah’s record winter snowpack, according to the weather service, and increase the chance of flooding across northern Utah.
In southern Utah, the cold front will drop temperatures into the low to mid-70s on Tuesday — which is close to normal for the St. George area. But it won’t last long.
The forecast then calls for temperatures in the low 80s on Wednesday, the upper 80s on Thursday and Friday, and the low 90s on Saturday and Sunday. There’s no precipitation in the forecast through the weekend in southern Utah.
