April showers turn downright flaky

April showers aren't always rain.

Utahns who thought they were done with winter weather were surprised Wednesday when a cold front blew in, bringing snow in addition to rain.

Flakes fell mostly from Utah County north, and in many places the weather was too warm for it to stick. But many bench and mountain areas saw snow accumulations.

A little more lake-effect snow east and southeast of the Great Salt Lake was expected into this morning. By midmorning, the storm should be over, according to KSL meteorologist Len Randolph.

Still, temperatures are not expected to climb above 50 in Salt Lake today, well below the average of 62. The next couple of days should be slightly warmer, with Saturday possibly making it to the low 60s.

Randolph said another small storm — most likely rain this time — could hit the Wasatch Front Sunday night and Monday morning.

Randolph says a snowstorm isn't so unusual for this time of year.

In fact, a typical April on the Wasatch Front sees about 7 inches of snow falling at the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Wednesday the airport saw little more than a trace of snow accumulation, bringing about a half-inch of water.

We needed it.

"We've had precious little moisture," Randolph said. "Up until today we'd only had 0.24 inches of water for the month of April. We're so deep into April, and April and May are our two wettest months. We had a crummy snowpack. It was pathetic."

Snow accumulations and precipitation amounts varied. The National Weather Service reported that, as of 7 p.m., 8 inches had fallen at Snowbird. Olympus Cove on the Salt Lake Valley's east bench saw 5.5 inches, and 4.5 inches fell on North Ogden.

Most valley locations were left soggy rather than snowy, as snow melted when it hit the ground. Parts of Farmington ended up with almost a full inch of water. A quarter-inch of water fell on Sandy, and a one third of an inch in Dugway.

But despite the precipitation, the region is still below normal for the month.

"It didn't fix it, but it was a big shot in the arm and the patient's feeling a lot better now," Randolph said.

The approaching cold front also brought wind — strong winds for some areas of the state.