SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy Thursday, Utah! A repeat performance with a cold overnight and start to the day, and you can expect hazy sunshine in our Northern Utah valleys thanks to our strengthening inversion.
Daytime highs will once again hit the upper 30s to near 40 along the Wasatch Front, and average highs are expected in southwest Utah with mid-50s expected yet again.
Statewide, high pressure remains in control, with inversion allowing haze to build even more in northern Utah valleys. You can expect elevated particulate matter to continue to aid in the decline of air quality. We have seen “moderate” air along the Wasatch Front and in NE Utah this week, and today we could see Salt Lake, Davis, Utah and Duchesne counties mix into the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category.
While our high-pressure ridge keeps dry conditions through the close of the work week, we have an incoming storm system from the northwest that will flatten the ridge heading into the weekend.
The positioning of the low pressure to our northwest and high pressure to our south paired with a westerly flow will allow warmer air and atmospheric river moisture from the Pacific to move in Friday night with impacts through Sunday.
Snow levels will be rising through the weekend, so this will be a valley rain and mountain snow event. The heaviest snow is expected above 7000 feet for the Wasatch Mountains North of I-80 and the Bear River Range. As a result, the National Weather Service has issued a “Winter Storm Watch” for those areas from Friday afternoon through Monday afternoon. We could see one to two feet of snow in those areas with the traction law going into effect.
Temperatures will warm up significantly this weekend into next week with highs warming into the 50s to near 60 up north, and near 70 by Monday across the south. We will be flirting with records along the Wasatch Front on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
While active skies return for northern Utah this weekend, our ridge of high pressure will keep the southern half of the state dry and warm. Highs in St. George will reach the 70-degree mark by early next week!
Stay tuned as the weekend storm evolves. We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!