Another Blow

The meteograms below from the University of Utah shows the persistent, gusty, southerly flow that has dominated the weather around Salt Lake City since about noon on Sunday.  However, two things happened overnight.  First, winds died down in the evening, enabling overnight temperatures to drop to lower levels than Sunday night.  Second, a weak front pushed into the northern Salt Lake Valley, resulting in a further decrease in wind speed and a shift in the wind. 

Observations from across northern Utah show northerly flow penetrating southward across the west desert and northern Great Salt Lake.  Winds over the southern Great Salt Lake are more variable in wind direction, but northwesterly flow near and north of the Salt Lake City International Airport suggests that the weak front has made it into the northern Salt Lake Valley. 

Is it here to stay?  Probably not.  The models emphatically show a return of southerly flow today.  An example below is from the HRRR showing the northwest or northerly flow over northwest Utah at 0600 MDT (1200 UTC) this morning, but then the return of southerlies by 1000 MDT (1600 UTC). 

Yup, another windy day ahead. 

When will rain and cooler air get here?  Wednesday.  Although there's a slight chance of showers tonight, showers are most probably on Wednesday, although most members of the SREF continue to give us paltry amounts of about 0.2" or less at the airport. 

There are, however, a couple of wetter members and I'm rooting for one of them to verify.