Winter Weather in Northern Wasatch Front, Utah

Snow Squall. A combination of multiple mesonet stations in addition to the Ogden-Hinckley Airport ASOS and Hill Air Force Base ASOS recorded periods of strong wind gusts (multiple periods in excess of 30 mph) and significant reductions to visibility as a well defined band of snow moved through the area. At Ogden-Hinckley Airport for example, a period of wind gusts to 60 mph was observed between 5:53 pm MST to 6:02 pm MST, with visibility to 1 1/2 of a mile. Some additional mesonet sensors which also recorded supporting observations include the POWER PLANT mesonet site (peak wind gust of 56 mph, visibility less than 1 mile), the US-89 at East Layton Bench mesonet site (peak gust of 53 mph, visibility less than 1 mile), and the Shepard Creek mesonet site (peak gust of 52 mph). Many of these mesonet sites also reported temperatures rapidly falling below freezing as this snow squall passed.

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.