Northern Utahns awoke to light, cold rain in the valleys and, in some locales, snowfall on Friday as a winter-like storm system settled over the Wasatch Front.
The National Weather Service predicted even cooler temperatures and more precipitation going into the weekend.
A Winter Storm Warning was in place for northeastern Utah's Uinta Mountains as Friday dawned with snowfall of up to a foot expected by early afternoon.
Southeastern Utah, from Green River south to Bluff, was under a Freeze Warning beginning 9 p.m. Friday and extending to 9 a.m. Saturday.
Two large pockets of central Utah from Delta west to the Nevada border and Price south to the Capitol Reef and Hanksville areas were included in a Hard Freeze Watch in effect from 11 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys began Friday with a mix of cold rain and snow with up to 2 inches of snow reported in the west desert. Saturday's forecast was less likely to see snow, though morn frost was expected after overnight temperatures in the mid-30s.
Daytime highs along the Wasatch Front were expected to range into the mid- to upper-50s on Saturday, the same as forecast for Friday.
Southern Utah, at least, was holding onto autumn. High temperatures Saturday were expected to be in the mid-70s, a few degrees warmer than the Friday forecast. No precipitation was expected, though winds of 10-25 mph were to buffet the area.
The Utah Division of Air Quality graded breathability statewide as "Green," or healthy.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website noted that its pollen index showed sagebrush as "very high" and mold at "moderate" levels.
Due to the continuing partial government shutdown, the NWS once more did not provide its usual city-by-city temperature listings, but the WeatherBug.com website provided the following predictions:
Salt Lake City 57 degrees on Saturday, up from Friday's forecast for 51; Ogden 58 and 53 degrees, respectively; Provo 59 and 53; Logan 57 and 51; Wendover 58 and 51; Duchesne 48 and 40; Cedar City 59 and 51; St. George 71 and 66; and Moab 71 and 66 degrees.
remims@sltrib.com
Twitter: @remims