The End Is Near

I was pleasantly surprised to open my front door this morning, see the stars, and breath clean air.  Before going to bed last night, I thought that our passing system simply wasn't going to do much damage, but it does appear that it has stirred the inversion a bit.  Even along the valley floor, there appears to have been some ventilation.  However, as can be seen in the panorama above (click to enlarge), plenty of smog remains.  In addition, fog lingers near the Great Salt Lake, as can be seen in traffic cameras along Legacy Parkway.  

Source: UDOT

Today is a transition day during which we are going to have to put up with the remaining remnants of this inversion.  There is the lingering smog, and I suspect it may be deepest and nastiest over the Great Salt Lake.  This airmass may push into the Salt Lake Valley today with the lake breeze.  Tonight and tomorrow the approaching storm is going to chip away at the inversion, eventually bringing an end to the event.  Looking at the models, the next few days look to be very complicated meteorologically.  We'll take a closer look and evaluate the potential for powder tomorrow.