SALT LAKE CITY -- Winter weather has finally arrived in Utah.
After a day of clear skies at 70 degrees, the temperature has plummeted 25 degrees bringing snow showers to the valley Sunday, said meteorologist Mike Seaman with the National Weather Service.
Sunday's high in Salt Lake City will be 37 degrees, the low will be 27.
The snow began to fly at about 7 a.m. in the Salt Lake valley.
Seaman said it doesn’t look like there will be more snow for the rest of the week. While the days have gotten colder, temperatures are expected to rise to the 60s by Thursday and Friday.
Powder hounds hit the mountain at Alta Ski Area Sunday, hiking an hour or more for one great run.
“It was worth every minute of it,” skier Peter Ingle said of the climb. “We come out here before it starts and do a few runs, just get excited for the start of the ski season.”
Ingle and friend Steve Scott have hit the slopes before the official open for a long time.
“About 25 years,” Scott said.
There was a flurry of activity at the resort, with snow machines cranking out clouds of crystalline powder, and skiers, hiker and snowshoers alike taking advantage of 12 inches of snow.
They’ve brought out the big guns at Park City Mountain Resort.
“We’ve got the snow guns going, and natural stuff is falling today,” said resort spokesperson Andy Miller. “And we're also making our own storms out here on the mountain. Just three weeks to opening day.”
Millers said they're right on track to open the resort on Nov. 23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The start will also mark Park City Mountain Resort’s 50th anniversary.
“Our golden anniversary season,” Miller said.
But it didn’t just snow in the mountains over the weekend. People woke up to flurries and small accumulations across the Wasatch Front Sunday morning.
Ingle and Scott said they have no intention of ending their annual pilgrimage up the mountain to start the ski season.
“’Til we die,” both men said in unison.
“That would be the way to go,” Scott added.
