Utah spring: A wild, wet, cold weekend ahead

Weather • Wasatch Front could see rain and snow, but southern Utah will be balmy.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Windy, chilly and with periods of cold rain and mountain snow: that is the forecast for northern Utah extending into the weekend.

The Wasatch Front's weather menu featured Saturday high temperatures just above freezing with snow flurries and rain throughout the day, a scenario nearly identical to Friday's, when the morning commute along the region's urban valleys brought snow, in some locales heavy.

Both Little and Big Cottonwood canyons were restricted to chained or four-wheel drive vehicles late Friday morning.

At least southern Utah was holding on to our early spring. Utah's Dixie looked for highs in the upper-50s to low-60s Saturday, down 5-10 degrees from Friday's forecast. While little or no precipitation was expected, the region was expected to experience winds of 15-25 mph under partly cloudy skies.

The Utah Division of Air Quality rated breathability statewide going into the weekend as "Green," or healthy.

The Utah Avalanche Center, meantime, rated the state's mountains at "moderate" risk for dangerous backcountry snow slides.

Salt Lake City's high temperature for Saturday was expected to hit 38 degrees, down a degree from Friday's forecast; Ogden looked for 36 and 37 degrees, respectively; Provo 41 and 43; Logan 32 and 34; Wendover 43 and 42; Duchesne 36 and 40; Cedar City 43 and 52; St. George 60 and 69; and Moab 47 and 58 degrees.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims