A strong spring storm moving in this weekend prompting winter and wind alerts

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Happy first weekend of May, Utah! Prepare for a case of temperature whiplash this weekend.

Today will be about 15-25° warmer than yesterday, climbing into the mid 70s for valleys and possibly low 80s near Salt Lake, while St. George and surrounding warm spots reach the 80s. But don’t get too used to it because we see another massive 20° drop in temperatures on Sunday. That means a return to the upper 50s and low 60s, upper 60s in St. George.

High pressure building over the state allows calmer skies and warming temperatures. However, it will quickly pass and continue eastward. The backside of the high pressure spells strong southerly winds, especially for southern Utah. Winds strengthen in the southwest and west desert on Saturday night with the strongest winds expected Sunday morning. The eastern side of the state will see winds pick up on Sunday morning before tapering off overnight. Wind speeds of 30-40 mph can be expected with some gusts as high as 60 mph.

The National Weather Service has issued wind alerts for these areas. The West Desert, Great Salt Lake Desert, and parts of southwest Utah will have High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories go into effect from 3 p.m. Saturday to noon Sunday. The eastern side is in a High Wind Watch on Sunday, but it could be upgraded to a Warning today. They warn of blowing dust and possible power outages caused by potential blowing debris.

This temperature swing continues on Sunday as a cold front moves through. The cold front will push through late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, dropping temperatures and bringing cold and soggy weather conditions to the state. Widespread showers are expected across the state with high temperatures plummeting to the 50s and 60s. Even with another cooldown, we’ll mainly see valley rain and mountain snow. With a northwesterly flow taking over into next week, a couple of systems will move in which will help to keep temperatures below average for most while the chance of wet weather could stick around through the first half of next week. Northern Utah may end up seeing some healthy moisture on the magnitude of 0.5″-1.5″.

The northern mountains are expecting to see decent snow totals from this round of active weather. Winter Storm Warnings will be in place for the Wasatch Mountains and Western Uintas from 6 a.m. Sunday through noon on Tuesday. Snow levels will generally stay above 7,000 feet, but we could see periods of light snow make it to benches and some chillier valleys. The Wasatch Mountains could get 8-16 inches while the Cottonwoods could receive as much as 2 feet through Tuesday. The Central and Southern Mountains won’t perform quite as well and are not under any winter alerts, but a few inches are still in store.

The bottom line? We open up this weekend with temperatures far above average before colder, wetter, weather takes over.

We’ll keep you posted on the latest updates in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!

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