BRYCE CANYON COUNTRY — The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning of a second large snowstorm coming Southern Utah’s way Tuesday night.
“The highest impacts and snow accumulations are expected across southern Utah, including most valleys,” NWS tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “Blowing and drifting snow is likely across southern Utah and western valleys on Thursday.”
The warning included the cities of Escalante, Bryce Canyon City, and much of Zion and the Grand Staircase country. These areas could receive between 6 to 12 inches of snow, and locally up to 16 inches in the Orderville area. The mountains are forecast at 2 to 3 feet of snow.
The Utah Department of Transportation also issued another weather alert for areas of Southern Utah, though most of their avalanche mitigation work is done.
The snow is expected to let up by Thursday morning. However, gusty winds up to 40 miles per hour could keep snow drifting and blowing into the afternoon. The rest of the week should stay quite dry.
This would be the second week of snowstorms for Utah. On Wednesday last week the northern part of the state received 4 to 9 inches of snow. Southern Utah also received large amounts of snow, and it even snowed some in St. George.
Contrasting these numbers with last year’s warm, fairly dry February, this is a lot of snow for Southern Utah!
– The Byway
Feature image caption: Over a foot of snow covers cars in a driveway in Cannonville, Utah. March 1, 2023. Courtesy Katie Beesley.