textproduct: Salt Lake City

KEY MESSAGES

- Strong westerly winds develop early Wednesday across northern Utah and southwest Wyoming, peaking with a frontal passage in the afternoon. Strongest winds in excess of 60 mph are expected across northwest Utah and Uinta County, WY.

- Expect valley rain and high elevation snow on Wednesday, associated with increased moisture from an atmospheric river.

- Another warm storm brings increased winds and another shot of rain and high elevation snow to northern Utah Friday into Saturday.

LONG TERM (After 12Z/5AM Friday)

There will be largely dry conditions throughout southwest Wyoming and Utah to start Friday, excluding far northern Utah, where there will remain sufficient moisture and forcing as the atmospheric river (AR) event from Thursday lifts north. Snow levels will be around 7000 feet, with minimal accumulation. There will be another surge of wind, especially for southwest Wyoming and northern Utah, ahead of another AR event. Winds will be from the west to southwest, associated with warm air advection and valley high temperatures in the 50s to low 60s, around 20F warmer than normal.

The AR event that will track into the PacNW Thursday will slide south through Friday. That will bring moisture advection and forcing associated with a jet streak in already impressive westerly flow. Precipitation probability will increase from north to south through Friday afternoon, with valley rain and mountain snow for southwest Wyoming and much of northern Utah Friday night through Saturday. Snow levels through late Friday will be around 7000 feet near the Idaho border and 7500 feet for the Cottonwoods. Despite strong forcing, there won't be strong cold air advection as the baroclinic zone pushes through into Saturday because of the warmer source of the AR. Snow levels will lower to around 5500 feet near the Idaho border and 7000 feet for the Cottonwoods as precipitation tapers significantly later Saturday. Water content will range from 0.75- 1.50" for the Bear River Range and from 0.50-1.00" for the Uintas and Cottonwoods. Snow ratios will range from 5-10:1 most of the event. Snow accumulation will be influenced by how far north and the elevation of a location, with the most accumulation around ridgelines in far northern Utah. Nearby valleys, including the urban corridor of northern Utah, will have rainfall ranging from 0.10- 0.50". Weak cold air advection will lower valley high temperatures Saturday to around 50F for northern Utah.

Another surge of AR moisture will track into the western U.S. for the end of the weekend. The main difference will be that this will have a more southern track, which will bring downslope flow from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The track would result in the majority of precipitation north of Utah.

AVIATION...KSLC

Southeast winds will increase, with gusts around 20 knots, from 12-15Z and 25 knots from 15-19Z. A west crosswind, with gusts around 30 knots, will be in place from roughly 19-21Z as a cold front pushes through. Winds will transition to northwest around 21Z, with gusts around 25 knots. Broken to overcast low clouds and rain showers will prevail much of that time, with a range of MVFR conditions with rain to VFR.

REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...A cold front will track across southwest Wyoming and northern Utah. Ahead of that, southeast to southwest winds will gust from 20-30 knots for northern Utah and from 30-40 knots, with peaks in excess of 50 knots, for southwest Wyoming. Broken to overcast low clouds with rain showers will result in a range from MVFR to VFR conditions from roughly 12-00Z. Throughout southern Utah, there will be mostly clear conditions with southwest winds gusting around 25 knots at KCDC from 18-00Z.

SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

UT...High Wind Warning from 8 AM this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for UTZ101.

Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for UTZ102>105-107-109-110.

Wind Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM MST this evening for UTZ114.

WY...High Wind Warning from 8 AM this morning to 8 PM MST this evening for WYZ021.