ST. GEORGE — The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather advisory for the western 2/3 of Utah and southern Wyoming Saturday.
Southern Utah
A gradual warming trend in the south will occur through the next seven days. Occasional rain is forecast for St. George through Monday, then partial clearing with rain expected to return Thursday for one day, with sunny skies the rest of the week and next weekend. Highs are expected in the 50s with overnight lows dropping into the mid-30s to upper 40s.
Cedar City can expect the same except for some snow showers Thursday with highs in the low- to mid-40s and overnight lows in the 20s.
Northern valleys
Very cold temperatures will remain in place across the northern valleys Saturday, with snow returning to most areas in northern and central Utah later in the day and Saturday night. Freezing rain is possible in those areas.
Sunday will see the freezing rain and snow moving to the north, mainly Idaho and northern Utah. The Salt Lake valleys will transition to rain.
Roads and highways
The only emergency road alert in effect from Utah Department of Transportation Saturday morning indicates U.S. Highway 191 is closed at the Utah border due to winter weather conditions.
Moab area mountains
The Utah Avalanche Center’s avalanche advisory Saturday for the Moab area mountains states avalanche danger is moderate on steep, upper elevation, wind-exposed terrain that has recent deposits of wind-drifted snow. The danger is most pronounced on slopes that face north-northeast-east, but cross loading has affected terrain on all aspects in the wind zone.
The center says to avoid slopes that have smooth, rounded pillows, and suspect the sheltered side of terrain features such as sub ridges and gully walls. There is also an isolated or moderate danger for triggering a deeper, persistent slab avalanche on upper-mid to upper elevation slopes that face northwest to southeast. Low elevation offers mostly low danger.
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