Snow has already developed in parts of Northern Utah this morning. It's snowing outside my window as I type this. Not much accumulations, generally under an inch as of 6am. However, that will change today as heavier precip continues to stream into the northern half of the state. Snow levels will generally be 5000-6000ft today. The heaviest precip should be north of I-80 during the day, but sag south into the Central Wasatch (Cottonwoods/PC) by tonight. 

The first wave of this system will be thru tomorrow (Friday) morning. I would expect 8-16" from this first wave. We may then have a break during the day on Friday. The secondary, colder wave of this system then moves in Friday night into early Saturday, additional accumulations are likely. 

Overall, accumulations should still be in the 1-2 foot range for most mountains of Northern Utah. Here is the 12km NAM graph for the Upper Cottonwoods :

You can see the heaviest snow ramps up this afternoon. Then, there is a bit of a lull on Friday, before snow picks up again Friday night into early Saturday. Total accumulation is almost 20", and this is a generally conservative version of this model, so greater accumulations are possible. 

Here is the same model (12km NAM), in map form for the entire state: 

While the focus early on will be Northern Utah, eventually southern Utah will get some good snow this weekend as well as the boundary sags south. Totals may not be as deep as northern Utah, but 6-12+" for Brian Head and Eagle Point is a good bet. 

Best days to get out on the snow... Right now the obvious choices are either Friday or Saturday. This afternoon could get good quickly as well. Sunday will probably be a culmination day with bluebird conditions and some good rope drops. Plenty of options depending on your preference. 

We are going to generally clear out for next week. We start the week cold but will slowly warm up. It looks like we have 5-7 days of high pressure after this storm, so inversions may return in the valleys. Looking ahead, we are still looking at the deep trough off the west coast as shown yesterday. This trough should slowly work its way inland. Once it does, our chances for snow will increase. We could be looking at a storm or two during Christmas week. Will take a closer look at that once this storm is over.

Evan | OpenSnow