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SALT LAKE CITY — A continuing cold front ushered in feelings of fall in Utah, even leaving the highest peaks of the Beehive State dusted in wintry white stuff.
"It's wonderful to see it up there," said Matt Crawley, marketing manager at Snowbird resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon. "It's a good reminder that we're much closer to winter than we are to summer."
And it was the same for many in northern Utah, who donned jackets for the first time in months and carried umbrellas through the pelting rainstorms throughout the day Wednesday. Storms were expected to taper off throughout the night, but begin again mid-day Thursday, closing out the two-part cold front that graced almost the entire state.
"The more significant storm should be over, but there are still some clouds and showers to come," said local National Weather Service meteorologist Monica Traphagan. She reported snow at about 8,000 feet elevation in northern Utah.
Cache Valley received more than an inch and a half, with showers still to come, she said.
The record for rainfall on Sept. 16 is 0.89 inch, and totals nearly reached that at the Salt Lake City International Airport Wednesday.
"We're seeing a lot of rain in a lot of areas, primarily Salt Lake and north," Traphagan said, adding that at least a half-inch fell throughout the day in most places. "It's definitely not the usual amount here in the desert."
But snowfall in September, she said, isn't uncommon for Utah. And though it is difficult to predict, Traphagan said a strong El Nio winter is expected along the Wasatch Front, meaning precipitation should be better than it was during recent winters.
Rainfall on Wednesday posed some problems where street drains couldn't handle the influx of water, due to debris or other issues, but for the most part, runoff stayed within the bounds of existing rivers and streams in northern Utah.
The heavy clouds gave southern Utah a break of sorts on Wednesday, making for much drier conditions than what led to very deadly flooding conditions in Hildale and at Zion National Park on Tuesday.
And the National Weather Service forecasted "much drier" conditions to come for the weekend, moving back into the 80s for Monday and Tuesday, Traphagan said.
"We'll see a warming trend come through," she said. Clouds will taper off and lead to the upper 60s on Friday and lower 70s for the weekend.
Ongoing events and mountainside activities at Snowbird remain unaffected by the weather. The resort calculated 2 inches of snow at the top of its peaks on Wednesday afternoon, much of which had melted by the end of the day.
"There is no possible way anybody should be trying to ski on this," Crawley said, adding that Snowbird's official opening date is Nov. 21 and the resort will only open earlier if October comes with historic snow levels.
"It's not sticking around. The ground temperatures are too warm still," he said, adding that it wouldn't be good for the long-term or avalanche conditions to keep it around.
"This is great, though," Crawley said. "The first real snowstorm gets people talking."
For more snow sightings, follow the Snowbird live cam here.
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