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Utah Valley residents are in for some snow this weekend, and Cougar fans may end up taking the brunt of it.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City are expecting 2 to 5 inches of snow over the weekend, beginning smack dab in the middle of the Brigham Young University homecoming football game against New Mexico, which starts at 4 p.m. Saturday.
"Saturday, it certainly is just sort of a cold rain, then probably switching to snow in late evening," said Colby Neuman, an intern at NWS.
Neuman said the brunt of the snowfall should take place Saturday evening and into the night, starting at 5 or 6 p.m. The high in the afternoon should only be in the 30s, and some lows over the weekend will be in the low 20s.
"It'll be a cold, miserable day," he said.
Neuman said there could be some power outage concerns around the valley because of the early snow. Most trees still have quite a few leaves, which give the tree more surface area to hang on to the snow. With the added weight on the branches, Neuman said trees could lose limbs and power lines may be struck.
Pete Wilensky, lead forecaster with NWS, said the record snowfall in the state was set in October 1984 in Salt Lake City, but snow does not always fall this early.
"We do have snow in October," he said. "This is a little early for snow on the valley floor."
Wilensky said it is possible for the Salt Lake and Utah valleys to have a lake effect this weekend because the water is still warm, but Utah County will not see as much snow as northern areas. Wilensky said it is a good time for residents to drain their boats and RVs and bring in their vegetables and swamp coolers. The valley will warm up in a few days, but there is no hope for sunshine and warm weather this weekend.
"We'll dry out during the day Monday and start a warming trend through the rest of the week," he said.
Despite the bad weather conditions, BYU Associate Athletic Director for Communications Duff Tittle said he does not think BYU fans will be deterred from the sold-out game.
"Our fans are very savvy with the weather this time of year," he said.
Tittle said fans may show up in different-colored ski jackets instead of all blue, but they will be out in force nonetheless. Depending on how bad the weather becomes and whether the game is out of reach, Tittle said fans have supported the team through heavy rain and wet snow.
"For the most part, they stick it out," he said.
Tittle cited a game in recent years that had an hour-long delay due to lightning. Hardly a soul from the student body left the stands during the wait, despite objections.
"We were trying to get people out, and it was crazy," he said.
Tittle said there should not be much of a problem keeping the game going through the weather, either. In the past, games have continued despite torrential rain and even heavy fog.
"It would have to be a dangerous situation, which would typically be lightning," he said. |
