Freeze warning issued, snow advisory cancelled

Stock image | Cedar City News/St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A winter weather advisory for snow has been canceled and a new hard freeze warning issued.

Shaded areas denote regions subject to the hard freeze warning | Map generated at 4:48 p.m., MDT, May 17, 2017 | Image courtesy of the National Weather Service, St. George News

The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City has canceled a winter weather advisory for the central and southern Utah mountains along with the Book Cliffs and Wasatch Plateau in northeast Utah.

The cancellation affects the Wasatch Plateau/Book Cliffs, central mountains, southern mountains and includes the cities of Scofield, Cove Fort, Koosharem, Fish Lake, Loa, Panguitch and Bryce Canyon.

Occasional snow showers will continue across the area through early this evening. Any additional accumulations will generally be 2 inches or less.

Hard freeze warning

The National Weather Service has issued a hard freeze warning for parts of Washington, Iron and Beaver counties. It includes Cache Valley/Utah Portion, Wasatch Mountain Valleys, Western Uinta Basin, Sanpete/Sevier Valleys and southwest Utah.

Affected area

The warning includes the cities of Logan, Smithfield, Huntsville, Park City, Heber City, Duchesne, Roosevelt, Manti, Richfield, Beaver, Cedar City and Milford.

Temperatures

Overnight minimum temperatures of 25-28 degrees.

Timing

The coldest temperatures are expected during the early morning hours Thursday. Temperatures will increase back above 28 degrees by mid-morning Thursday.

Impacts

The main impacts will be to any frost or freeze sensitive vegetation including vegetable and fruit gardens. Take steps to protect sensitive plants this evening.

Precautionary/preparedness actions

A hard freeze warning means sub-freezing temperatures are imminent or highly likely. These conditions will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation.

Protecting your plants

The Farmer’s Almanac recommends the following in preparation for freezing conditions:

If a frost is predicted, cover your plants, both to retain as much soil heat and moisture as possible and to protect them against strong winds, which can hasten drying and cooling.

You can use newspapers, baskets, tarps, straw and other materials to cover your plants. Cover the whole plant before sunset to trap any remaining heat. Be sure to anchor lightweight coverings to prevent them from blowing away.

Keep the soil moist by watering your plants the day a frost is predicted. Commercial fruit and vegetable growers leave sprinklers on all night to cover plants with water. As the water freezes, it releases heat, protecting the plants, even though they’re covered by ice.

To prevent damage, the sprinklers need to run continuously as long as temperatures remain below freezing.

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