SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Tuesday, Utah! A cold northerly flow remains in place this afternoon and is keeping temperatures rather cold across the state.
Low level stratus clouds that have formed along the Wasatch Front have acted as a blanket early this morning, keeping overnight lows higher than in areas that saw clear skies. There’s a chance that the stratus cloud deck could remain in place as high pressure builds in through midweek, this will impact the temperature forecast if this happens.
Cold sunshine across the Beehive State for Tuesday
Temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-30s for the Wasatch Front with Lower Washington County seeing upper 40s.
By Wednesday, a ridge will set up over the Great Basin, strengthening valley inversions. These inversions are expected to stick around for a few days, but they won’t be as intense as what we saw in early December.
Most likely, we’ll just see a thin layer of haze in the northern valleys with “Moderate/Yellow” air quality expected. A cold front on Friday will clear out the inversions and any bad air.
Looking toward the weekend, our next weathermaker is expected to bring colder temps and some snow. There’s still a lot of uncertainty with the storm’s path… if it swings farther west, it could bring more cold air and snow to the state. If it sticks farther east, the impacts here would be lighter.
Either way, it’ll be cold. In the milder scenario, lows will range from around 0° in the coldest valleys to the teens along northern Utah starting Sunday. In the colder scenario, temps could drop to -20° in the Bear River Valley, below zero in Cache Valley and southwest Wyoming, and single digits in many northern valleys.
This system is moisture-starved, and so snow totals aren’t expected to be significant. Expect valley and mountain snow from Friday evening through Saturday, but accumulations will likely only be a few inches of snow for our mountain areas.
We’ll keep you updated on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!