It's Bloody Cold!

As discussed in a November post, there are probably only a few days each winter during which the 700 mb  (roughly 10,000 feet) reaches -20C or colder.

Today was one of those days.  The 700 mb temperature in this morning's sounding from the Salt Lake Airport was -21.1C, or -6.0F.

With a low sun angle, it felt really cold out today, and it was.  I somehow survived a 6-hour ski tour, but only by moving almost continuously and stopping only very briefly to eat or drink.   As an example of how cold it was, the Solitude-Apex observing site at 9061 ft recorded an afternoon maximum temperature of -1.5F.

Snow conditions were, however, unbelievable.  Bottomless cold smoke.  To the sufferers go the spoils.