Utah Weather Discussion

[SLCUTAH]

* Edited this original post now that I'm a retired meteorologist still living in Utah. I do still update my Utah Weather links page https://utahweather.blogspot.com/p/links.html which has my favorite Utah snow weather links and forecast models including detailed WRF-GFS snowfall forecast maps. On average I have found that the WRF-GFS forecast model does the best job of forecasting snowfall in Utah.

Enjoy the snow!

[StankyPanky]

woo more snow!

[SkiOrDie]

YA!!!! I'll be there with my son starting Monday! This sounds "perfect". YAAAA HOOO!!!!!

[da sponge]

I have a usairways voucher, I'm waiting for the right weather to hit it up over a weekend. This is.. tempting.

[da sponge]

Fuck it, I'm going. Anyone else hitting up the canyons?

[SLCUTAH]

*Edited to new link. Link to the Cottonwood canyons official snow safety forecast. https://www.weather.gov/slc/snow#tabs-3

[TheSkiLife]

Powder Sugar on Park City Mountain

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkiLife?ref=hl

[Bromontana]

I water ski on Utah Lake in the summer.

do you like long walks on the beach? a/s/l?

kidding, nice site for the cottonwoods. Bookmarked that sheeeeeeyit. thanks.

[mortalim]

Anyone skiing Snowbird lately? Is there a Utah Alta/Snowbird conditions thread that I don't know about?

[mrswhyturn]

Felt like a little Wasatch love was in order. Great to see all the donuts in the parking lot at Solitude & Brighton. Loved catching perfect snowflakes. These cell pics don’t do it justice.

[SLCUTAH]

I was up at Snowbird this past Sunday December 1st and Tuesday the 3rd (see attached pic from the 3rd), great skiing and coverage for this time of year! I don't know all of the reasons or the politics involved but I do find it interesting that Snowbird still has very little terrain open while Alta has a lot.

What has driven me crazy for years is Snowbird's snow reports which are inconsistent compared to Alta! I do take into account that Alta's snowfall reporting season is not the same as Snowbird's which goes into May and even June some years, Alta started reporting season snowfall on October 17th this year. Yes there are times when Snowbird does get more snow than Alta per storm but on average over the course of the year Alta gets about 10% more snow. I look at the Alta snow report and the Snowbird snow report on a regular basis and days like today I see Alta reporting a depth of 47" (season snowfall of 117") and Snowbird reporting a depth of 54" (season snowfall of 116") which makes no sense. I also look and at the Alta Collins study plot https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/ge...&banner=header at 9662' feet and the Snowbird snotel site https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/ge...e=1&banner=off at 9177' feet. From looking at these sites over the years it is obvious that Snowbird is not always truthful with its snow reports which is sad since they don't need to over hype things.

[snowaddict91]

Should have been there today, the limited terrain problem has been solved.

I also agree about the overhyped totals. I wonder how much of it is outright fudging data and how much of it is reporting their totals from a very favorable spot?

[SLCUTAH]

I did hear Peruvian Gulch opened on Wednesday around 1pm, I should have gone!

Looking at today's Alta and Snowbird reports you will once again see why the Snowbird report makes no sense. Both resorts reported 4" new overnight and both now report a 50" base. Yesterday Alta reported a 47" base and now 50"today which makes total sense. Yesterday Snowbird reported 54" base and now 50" today which make no sense. The Alta snow report is always very close to the Alta Collins study plot which shows a 50" base.

[SLCUTAH]

As most know we are finally seeing winter here in Utah, hope it continues and we end up with a great '20-'21 snow season!

My best guess (moderate La Niña year) for the entire winter season in Utah is far northern Utah (Beaver Mtn/Cherry Peak) ends up near 110% of normal, 100% of normal for the Ogden area (Snowbasin/Powder Mtn), 90% of normal for the Salt Lake City area (Cottonwoods/PC), 80-90% of normal for the Provo area (Sundance), and 70-80% for Beaver/Cedar City area (Eagle Point/Brian Head).

I'm still a retired meteorologist and no longer post much on my blog but I do still update the links on https://utahweather.blogspot.com/p/links.html for those looking for Utah snow information and forecasts.

Happy skiing!

[SLCUTAH]

WRF-GFS forecasted snow 5am Friday through 5pm on Saturday. The moisture with this storm may outrun the coldest air and associated dynamics, looks like some models and most forecasters are over forecasting snow amounts. Thinking around a 12" storm for the Alta Collins study plot. The NWS snow safety forecast has 18-24" for the Cottonwoods, lets hope they are right.

[schindlerpiste]

More like 5 PM to 5 PM. Here in Park city snow still looks to be at least an hour or two away

[SLCUTAH]

The bulk of the snow in northern Utah looks to come between 7pm and 3am then it turns more showery.

[tgapp]

The bulk of the snow in northern Utah looks to come between 7pm and 3am then it turns more showery.

what do you think about visibility tomorrow morning (early) in the upper elevations?

thanks for sharing your wisdom with us

[SLCUTAH]

Where are you looking to go? By sunrise on Saturday the central Wasatch will be in a moist WNW flow so the Cottonwoods should still be in and out of low visibility in the upper elevations at times as snow showers continue, better visibility on the back side of the Wasatch.

[blackalps]

so, what's the tl;dr: version? Are things looking good for the LCC/BCC ski season?

[SLCUTAH]

so, what's the tl;dr: version? Are things looking good for the LCC/BCC ski season?

Looking like a decent year in LCC/BCC with total snowfall in the 90% of normal range.

[SLCUTAH]

January 1st 2021 snow water equivalent % of normal, not looking good...

[skifishbum]

I was up at Snowbird this past Sunday December 1st and Tuesday the 3rd (see attached pic from the 3rd), great skiing and coverage for this time of year! I don't know all of the reasons or the politics involved but I do find it interesting that Snowbird still has very little terrain open while Alta has a lot.

What has driven me crazy for years is Snowbird's snow reports which are inconsistent compared to Alta! I do take into account that Alta's snowfall reporting season is not the same as Snowbird's which goes into May and even June some years, Alta started reporting season snowfall on October 17th this year. Yes there are times when Snowbird does get more snow than Alta per storm but on average over the course of the year Alta gets about 10% more snow. I look at the Alta snow report and the Snowbird snow report on a regular basis and days like today I see Alta reporting a depth of 47" (season snowfall of 117") and Snowbird reporting a depth of 54" (season snowfall of 116") which makes no sense. I also look and at the Alta Collins study plot https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/ge...&banner=header at 9662' feet and the Snowbird snotel site https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/ge...e=1&banner=off at 9177' feet. From looking at these sites over the years it is obvious that Snowbird is not always truthful with its snow reports which is sad since they don't need to over hype things.

ive been crunchin daily new snow and base depths numbers for 11 seasons now
cause bums dont pay for shit someone will give you for some menial task
and snowbird is pure bullshit marketing with little to no professional snow study plot usage
and this enables their base to grow from 38 yesterday to 44 today
its a bullshit corp thing of much unprofessionalism
thats how they roll

[Kai]

Utah "winter" is a bust.

I'm not sure I've experienced worse snow conditions this time of year.

[SLCUTAH]

I completely agree, very unprofessional what Snowbird is doing.