SALT LAKE CITY — This month has already been great for Utah, and an atmospheric river moving across the West this weekend could add to it — but it may not be as beneficial as forecasts initially believed.
The National Weather Service still issued a winter weather advisory for the Wasatch Mountains north of I-80, where up to a foot of snow is possible toward the high terrain of the Bear River range.
It follows similar alerts issued across the Pacific Northwest and other parts of the West as the atmospheric river — long, narrow regions of abundant water vapor moving through the sky — moves through, bringing “lower elevation heavy rain and mountain snow.”
It’s expected to be “mainly a northern Utah event” as it reaches the Beehive State, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.
“This is a cherry on top for October,” he said.
Storm timing
The incoming atmospheric river has the type of organization, dynamics and moisture levels to be “a good producer” for the Pacific Northwest, but it’s forecast to become a little more unorganized as it moves east, Johnson explained. Models initially hinted that its core could slam into the state, but those now project that its southern boundary will skirt by the Wasatch Front and northern Utah.
The weekend will start on a dry and mild note with highs up to 5°F above seasonal normals. However, a fast moving storm system early Sunday into Monday will bring cooler temperatures and accumulating snow for the mountains of northern Utah. #utwx#wywxpic.twitter.com/36Op2GK123
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) October 24, 2025
The system is also moving a bit slower than initially forecast. Some showers are expected to push through northern Utah early Sunday, but the brunt of the moisture won’t arrive along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah until the afternoon.
Scattered showers are possible Sunday evening into Monday morning, mostly targeting Salt Lake County northward, Johnson said. The system is expected to clear out by the end of Monday.
Projected accumulations and cooldown
Precipitation levels aren’t forecast to be anywhere near as strong as what the region has received already this month, but it will snap a brief dry stretch. Most areas from Salt Lake County northward will receive 0.10 to 0.50 inches of precipitation, with KSL Weather models showing most of that falling in northern Utah.
Salt Lake City needs just 0.05 inches of precipitation to reach 5 inches this month, which would be only the fifth time that’s happened since 1874. Models have become less confident about the water totals south of Salt Lake County since Friday.
The winter weather advisory, in effect from noon Sunday to noon Monday, states that 4 to 8 inches of snow are possible near Logan Canyon and the Monte Cristo areas, and terrains in the Bear River Range could end up with 8 to 12 inches. While not in the alert, some places like Alta and the Uinta Mountains could end up with 4 inches or more, per the weather service.
High temperatures along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah will drop from the upper 60s and low 70s on Saturday to low-to-mid 50s on Monday, before a warmup later next week.
Central and southern Utah are forecast to end up mostly dry. However, remnants of a system that produced rain in the state last week proved to be fruitful for many southern Utah communities over the last few days.
Snow falls over Brian Head Resort on Thursday. Resort officials reported that the area received 5 inches of snow. (Photo: Brian Head Resort)
Escalante received as much as 0.89 inches, while Parowan and Panguitch Lake also ended up with over a half-inch of precipitation. Brian Head Resort reported 5 inches of snow from the 0.8 inches of precipitation it received from the storms.
Clear conditions are forecast for southern Utah this weekend, with highs in the mid-70s near St. George lasting into next week.
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
