Story by: Nick Austin, Director of Weather Analytics and Senior Meteorologist at FreightWaves

Another winter storm is about to slam the Rockies mountains of the Western U.S. just a few days after dumping record snowfall in Utah.

On Monday, Salt Lake City received a daily record 8.6 inches of snowfall, breaking the old record of 7 inches set in 1936. The average daily snowfall for the date is four-tenths of an inch. Many high elevations of the Wasatch and Rockies were slammed with 12 inches or more.

Snow is already falling in the Rockies of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and will likely come down harder through the day on Thursday. Heavy snowfall will gradually spread into the Wasatch Range in Utah on Thursday, as well as the Rockies in Colorado.

SONAR Critical Events: Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020; Rockies impending snowstorm

Lower elevations will see less than 12 inches, with up to 6 inches of snowfall in Denver and Salt Lake City. However, drivers will have to deal with a lot more snow in surrounding areas.

The storm will dump 12 to 36 inches in the higher elevations, including the Eisenhower Tunnel area on Interstate 70, about 55 miles west of Denver. Wind gusts in the high elevations will range from 40 to 65 mph, resulting in blowing snow and low or no visibility.

Because of the timing of this storm — hitting on a Friday — it’s important for shippers and receivers to communicate with each other ahead of time. Many receivers are closed on the weekends, and drivers — especially those on long hauls of 800 miles or more — don’t want to get stuck trying to make drop-offs in the region originally scheduled for Friday. An option is to arrange for them to deliver on Monday so they can wait out the storm, which is forecast to fade Friday night.

Read the full story and see forecast video HERE @freightwaves.com

Say it ain't snow!!! Salt Lake City is seeing some heavy snowfall rates today and more expected in the next few days, as well! Stay safe if you need to travel out there! #utwx pic.twitter.com/VpA3WRbeHC

— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) February 4, 2020

Source and credits: freightwaves.com / Nick Austin /  iTrucker  / Mario Pawlowski