Overnight snowfall totals reported by the Utah Avalanche Center include 10" in upper BCC and along the Park City Ridge line and only 4" in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The reason for this backwardness is the strong cyclone that moved across the southwest last night (which also brought some impressive snowfall totals to our friends in southern Utah). For example, at 0700 UTC (0000 MST) last night, the 700-mb low-center was just north of Las Vegas, with a trough extending northeastward to Wyoming. The result was southeasterly to easterly flow impinging on the Wasatch.
As a result, the Wasatch Back temporarily became the windward side of the Wasatch, with snowfall totals greatest near and east of the Wasatch Crest and the terrain in and around the middle and lower Cottonwoods receiving only spillover scraps.
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| Source: Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth |
And to think I almost left my PC backyard to go to Solitude... good thing I checked the snow stakes! I must admit having had doubts about the veracity, but skiing is believing. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI can attest! Skied both Jupiter Bowl and The Ninety-Nine-Ninety yesterday. Was deep in the trees and wind scoured at the top. :)
ReplyDeleteHow did you get the composite archive image with the radar, satellite and surface wind barbs overlaid?
ReplyDeleteI generate those with the Unidata IDV: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/idv/. Although there are some products online that I like, I like the ability to mix and match field depending on the situation.
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