BOUNTIFUL — Rain and snow are already blanketing south Davis, and the national weather service has issued a winter weather advisory for the area through Sunday morning.
It’s caused by a cold upper-level system moving eastward through the great basin, according to the weather service. Mountains will get the heaviest snowfall, but the storm is also expected to cause problems for Friday evening commuters and for drivers throughout the weekend.
The snow is expected to taper off on Sunday night, and occasional breaks in the snow are expected.
The weather service advises that conditions will be particularly hazardous in Parley’s Canyon and major roadways.
The storm follows several days of cold weather inversions that have covered the metro area not with snow, but with stinking brown smog that’s visible for miles.
The inversion and the smog it trapped started to lift Thursday evening, but was still in the yellow (moderately bad) range Friday. It is expected to be good Saturday and Sunday, according to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Air quality has been far worse than average for more than a month, and temperatures in January were up to 20 degrees below normal, according to Brian McInerney, hydrologist with the national weather service. On average, January of 2013 was 10 degrees colder than normal.
In the 2011-2012 winter in Davis County, there were two red air days and 16 yellow air days. The year before, there were 16 red air days but 11 yellow air days.
In the winter of 2009-2010, there were 22 yellow air days and 22 red air days.
The average person breathes about 20,000 gallons worth of air daily, according to the Utah DEQ.
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