Utah forecast: An icy spring for Wasatch Front

If H.G. Wells had fired up his Time Machine in the depths of a Utah's winter and landed in Spring 2013, he'd probably shiver, curse and take a sledgehammer to the thing.

The National Weather Service blamed a cold and unstable air mass for high temperatures forecast to be 15-20 degrees below normal Wednesday, and the mercury was to still be well below normal springtime levels on Thursday along Wasatch Front as well.

Indeed, a Hard Freeze Watch was in effect for the northwestern corner of the state Wednesday evening through Thursday morning. Overnight temperatures were well below freezing, actually, with thermometers expected to dip into the upper-teens and low-20s from the Salt Lake Valley running west to Wendover.

A Freeze Watch was to kick in late Wednesday and run through early Thursday for northern Utah's Cache Valley with temperatures overnight expected to tumble to the mid-20s.

Utah's eastern Uinta Mountains earned a Winter Storm Warning throughout Wednesday and into the evening with 10-20 inches of snowfall predicted. Winds of 10-20 mph were to make travel conditions even worse in that region during the advisory period.

The Utah Division of Air Quality placed the entire state under its "Green," or healthy air quality banner heading toward the weekend.

The forecast for southern Utahns, meanwhile, was decidedly warmer, if breezy, for Thursday. High temperatures were to range into the low-60s with winds of 10-20 mph and gusts up to 30 mph expected.

Salt Lake City's high Thursday was pegged at 49, up from Wednesday's forecast for 43 degrees; Ogden also looked for 49 and 43 degrees, respectively; Provo 48 and 42; Logan 50 and 42; Wendover 51 and 44; Duchesne 42 and 37; Cedar City 47 and 44; St. George 63 and 59; Moab 52 and 48 degrees.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims