More winter weather for the first day, week of spring

SALT LAKE CITY— Spring is officially here, but it does not feel like it yet.

Valleys along the Wasatch Front can expect more rain in bursts this week, and much more snow to our near record-breaking mountain snowpack.

A winter storm warning is in place for the mountains until tomorrow.

National Weather Service Senior Meteorologist Monica Traphagan said the mountains could get another one to two feet of snow between what’s already fallen and what’s coming today and tomorrow.

KSL Meteorologist Matt Johnson said some areas could potentially push three or four feet of snow, and the valleys could see up to an inch of rain by Wednesday.

That additional rain and snow coming after a little break Tuesday will come from another atmospheric river that’ll hit Southern Utah first.

Looking forward

Come Friday and Saturday, another brush-by storm will make its way through, bringing unusually cold temperatures with it, according to Traphagan.

“We’re talking at least 20 degrees below the normal,” Johnson said. “Normal high will be around 60 degrees…we’re forecasting low 40s…and latest model trends put us in the upper 30s.”

Johnson said he does expect temperatures to rise again after that cold brush-by, but he does expect the active weather to continue.

Is this normal?

March is typically one of the wettest months for the mountains, so it’s not uncommon to see wet weather this time of year.

“While it’s not uncommon to see precipitation [this time of year]…it is certainly uncommon to see this much and this amount of steady precipitation,” Traphagan said.

All the steady snow and rain that’s fallen this winter has led to one of the greatest snowpacks of all-time.

Traphagan said before these storms, we have 23.8 inches of snow water in the mountains, which is just shy of the record of 26 inches set back in 1983.

Related: Utah snowpack at a 10-year-high

 

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