Strong winds lashed the Wasatch Front early Wednesday, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power and churning crosswinds along north-south freeways that made for a rock-and-roll commute.
Rocky Mountain Power reported more than 4,100 customers were in the dark in the predawn hours in the Ogden-Layton area alone. Another 600 were without electricity in Heber City, but utility officials said that was maintenance, not wind-related.
Crews were out much of the night, however, and by 9 a.m. had restored services to all but a few hundred clients. They, too, were expected to be back on the grid by late Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service recorded the stiffest winds in the western canyons of Weber and Davis counties, where gusts approached 60 mph. Salt Lake, Box Elder and Utah counties reported winds of 30-40 mph, while Cache Valley marked breezes of 20-30 mph.
While motorists were buffeted, the Utah Highway Patrol had not reported any injury accidents. However, winds near the canyons were expected to remain strong into late Wednesday, while valley winds eased to 10-20 mph.
High temperatures, in the upper-60s for the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys Wednesday, will retreat a few degrees Thursday under sunny skies. Friday’s forecast will be an encore.
All that windy weather freshened the atmosphere, bringing “green,” or healthy conditions to the entire state, according to the Utah Division of Air Quality.
Southern Utahns dodged the winds as they moved toward the upper-70s under clear, sunny skies on Wednesday. Thursday’s forecast was for highs in the low-80s in Utah’s Dixie, and Friday will bring more of the same.