Rain and snow move in at Christmas and at weekends

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy Christmas Eve, Utah! Our Tuesday will see a mix of clouds and sunshine as well as a lot of haze in the northern valley.

Conclusion?! Christmas Eve will be hazy with a mix of clouds and sun, then rain and snow on Tuesday evening into Christmas morning.

Highs will warm into the upper 40s to lower 50s in the north and into the lower 60s in the south. Clouds will really pick up Tuesday evening in advance of our holiday storm, which arrives over Western Utah after 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve and then spreads across the rest of the state overnight as Santa Claus moves through the region.

Snow in the valley will likely be between 2 and 1 inch, with perhaps 3 to 6 inches expected in the Cottonwoods. Meanwhile, southern Utah will see an increase in precipitation, with up to 5 to 10 inches around Brian Head.

Winter driving conditions are expected to continue Tuesday through Wednesday, particularly on mountain passes. Precipitation will end up moving northwest to southeast on Christmas afternoon, with highs struggling to reach the upper 30s to lower 40s.

As we look beyond Christmas we will see a more active pattern emerging. Northern Utah should see regular snow and rain with more snowfall moving through, while southern Utah remains mostly dry. Two waves are expected on Thursday and Friday, bringing mountain snow and possibly brief valley snow north of I-70.

Heading into the weekend and into early next week, the storm’s track appears to shift slightly northward, keeping northern Utah on the edge. Warmer than normal temperatures could limit the impact of valley snow as the new year approaches.

We’ll keep you up to date on your holiday forecast in our 4Warn weather forecast both on air and online, we’re Good4Utah!

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