Sparks flew and the power went off in some Salt Lake Valley neighborhoods as a brisk storm front whisked through Utah Wednesday night.
It was a fitting last full night of the month, establishing in Salt Lake City a record as the November with the coldest average temperature.
"The front blew through about 7 o'clock last night," said William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service.
A gust of 55 miles per hour hit the Salt Lake International Airport, with a report of a small plane parked on the ground flipped over. Other high-wind readings were 89 miles per hour at Hidden Peak, Snowbird Resort; 75 mph at Mt. Baldy near Alta, and levels from 50 mph to 60 mph at several stations in the western Utah desert.
"It just did a real good job on the gunk" in the air, Alder noted. "The gunk went."
At the Cottonwood Substation, a device that regulates voltage failed, causing an outage for residents who live between 3900 South to 4500 South and 500 East to 1100 East, said Dave Eskelsen, spokesman for Utah Power.
Residents who live near downtown also lost power, Eskelsen said. People located between 200 East to 600 East and 800 South to 200 South lost power due to a problem at the Morton Court Substation, located near Trolley Square.
Most valley locations in northern Utah recorded some rain or snow, from 0.1 of an inch or less to half an inch of snow on certain bench areas.
Ski resorts had a refreshing blanket of snow: Alta, 5 inches; Snowbird, 4; Solitude, 5; The Canyons and Park City, 3 inches; Snow Basin, 2 inches.
Salt Lake City's temperatures nearly did not make it into the books as the November with the lowest average temperature since records started in 1928, since Wednesday was uncommonly balmy. The high was 60 degrees, warmest since Oct. 26.
However, the overwhelming chill throughout the rest of the month was icy enough that the average November temperature still was colder than any other since records started. The calculation includes the expected high for Thursday.
The previous record was set in November 1930. The average temperature that year was 31.8 degrees. This year, the average was 31.4 degrees, Alder said, "so we're 0.4 below the (previous) coldest."
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com ; or llhancock@desnews.com