Winter Weather — Eastern Box Elder County, Utah

2024-01-09 · Eastern Box Elder County, Utah

Event narrative

Snow Squall. Multiple mesonet stations recorded periods strong wind gusts (multiple periods in excess of 30 mph) and significant reductions to visibility (at times 1/4 of a mile or less) as a well defined band of snow moved through the area. The most significant observations were noted from the I-15 at MP369 North Brigham City UDOT RWIS mesonet sensor, which recorded a peak wind gust of 70 mph with visibility as low as 1/8 of a mile. Some additional mesonet sensors which also recorded supporting observations included the Honeyville South mesonet site (peak wind gust of 52 mph) and the I-15 @ Willard POE mesonet site (peak wind gust of 56 mph, visibility less than 1/4 of a mile). Many of these mesonet sites also reported temperatures rapidly falling below freezing as this snow squall passed.

Wider weather episode

Snow squalls developed and moved southward through northern Utah during the evening hours on both January 9 and January 10, bringing impacts to the evening commutes. Utah Highway Patrol reportedly responded to 101 vehicle accidents on 1/9, and 143 vehicle accidents on 1/10. A portion of these will be included in rough event damage estimates. Surprisingly, no injuries were reported with these accidents.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1150644. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.