SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy last Saturday of 2025! After a record-shattering hitting record warmth nearly every day in the last week, we are finally returning to more December-esque temperatures and weather.
Temperatures today will still be slightly above in the north, but seasonal in the south. That translates to daytime highs in the low to mid 40s for valleys, 30s for higher terrain, and low 50s for warmer spots down south. Overnight lows will fall below freezing for the first time in over a week, dropping into the 20s and low 30s.
We should be waking up to more scattered rain/snow showers, with snow levels falling as low as 4,500-5,000 feet, which would include the benches and some valleys – finally! By the evening those snow levels will fall to valley floors along the Wasatch Front. Unfortunately, by the time it is cold enough for valley snow, most of the moisture will have already moved on. However, we will still have some lingering moisture to work with which could keep spotty rain/snow showers in the loop through the evening. If you don’t see snow in the Salt Lake Valley and surrounding areas, don’t lose hope just yet because lake effect snow could generate a few bouts of moderate snowfall briefly Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Snow totals will be meager below 6,000 feet. With how warm the ground is and how wet and heavy the snow is, it’ll have a very difficult time sticking on valley floors, but we could get a trace. Mountain valleys and the Wasatch Back could get 2-5 inches through Sunday morning, but with the warm roads, it shouldn’t significantly impede travel. The mountains will do better with about 5-12 inches expected from the north to the south. Locally higher amounts are expected for the Upper Cottonwoods, Bear River Range, and the Tushars where 10-20 inches of snow will be possible, maybe up to 2 feet in some places if we’re lucky. The Southern and Central Mountains are under a Winter Weather Advisory until 5 pm Saturday, but the Wasatch Mountains, Bear River Range, Western Uintas, and the Wasatch Plateau/Book Cliffs hold onto theirs for another 12 hours, expiring 5 am Sunday…