I'll give you a hint. It's neither Alta nor Snowbird.
Nor is it anywhere in the central Wasatch (and this is not fake news!).
It's Ben Lomond Peak, just to the northeast of Ogden. In fact, for a given elevation, the area around Ben Lomond Peak and the north Ogden Valley is the snowiest place in the state at present and climatologically.
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| Source: Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth |
Impressive, but let's look at the real king of Utah snow. At the Ben Lomond Trail SNOTEL, at a lowly elevation of 5829 ft, more than 3000 feet lower than Alta-Collins and the Snowbird SNOTEL, the snow depth at noon MST today was 99 inches (it was over 100 earlier!). That's right. 99 inches of snow at under 6000 feet elevation. The snowpack snow water equivalent was 25.4 inches.
Now let's go a little higher, to the Ben Lomond Peak SNOTEL at 8000 ft where the snow depth at noon today was 170 inches (Correction: There is a problem with the Ben Lomond Snow Depth - it anomalously jumped from 134 to 170 today - see comments below), with a snowpack water equivalent of 44 inches. Those numbers dwarf Alta-Collins and the Snowbird SNOTEL.
So sorry Altaholics. Get off your high horse as you aren't even close to the snowiest spot in Utah at present.
Although this year Ben Lomond is doing especially well, if one looks at long-term averages and uses a boxing analogy, it is pound for pound the snowiest place in Utah. For its elevation, it's the snowiest place in Utah.
170" is suspect. yesterday at Ben Lomond peak in one hour went from 134 to 170, with no change in SWE. Love from Huntsville
ReplyDeleteAh yes, thanks for pointing that out. I've been in Seattle for too long!
DeleteAt least the 130 is still greater than the Alta-Collins depth.
Jim
Any thoughts on what the flood risks might be when all this snow melts in spring?
ReplyDeleteFar too early in the snow accumulation season to make any reliable guesses as to what might happen. Further, a deep snowpack at this stage is no guarantee of major flooding issues in the spring. Much depends on how things evolve the rest of the winter and the weather in the spring.
DeleteI have asked "those who know" about the 169 - 170 inch readings at Ben Lomond Peak and the thought is some sort of sensor riming. Which makes me wonder what happens if we get another 40 inches of snow - far from impossible. We at over 200 % of median and average. Buy a boat?
ReplyDeleteI have asked "those who know" about the 169 - 170 inch readings at Ben Lomond Peak and the thought is some sort of sensor riming. Which makes me wonder what happens if we get another 40 inches of snow - far from impossible. We at over 200 % of median and average. Buy a boat?
ReplyDeleteif you live close to the lake or in the "flood plain" I'd say yes! lol just pray we have a slow warm up to spring not a 60* February
DeleteInteresting point on Ben Lomond. Makes sense orographically when you "zoom out" and see the big picture. That section of the Wasatch "bends" briefly into a NW-SE axis...perfect orographic lift for SW winds from a 200-250 deg vector. These winds often exist just ahead of a low pressure center, where upper level "dynamics" or simply "synoptic lift" are strongest, and atmospheric moisture is deepest. BUT unlike the Cottonwood Canyons further south, this SW flow is nearly unimpeded by high mountain ranges upstream for 100 miles or more. Unfortunately the 10,000 ft Oquirrh's and 11,000 ft Stansbury Range do a very effective job of creating "downslope drying" on a SW to WSW upper level flow pattern, which is why the Cottonwoods do much better when the upper flow goes NW...just like Ben Lomond, thats ALta's "least orographically blocked" wind vector, often occurring when the upper atmosphere is coldest (ie most unstable), thus enhancing vertical lift even more in that scenario (while at the same time, Ben Lomond probably would not be experiencing as much snowfall.
ReplyDelete