Wasatch Weather Weenies

A few people have commented to me that it feels a little "sticky" today.  Of course, that's a Utah sticky, which means quite comfortable for anyone from the southeast US.   Observations from the University of Utah show that the dewpoint climbed steadly from July 29th to today and now sits near 50˚F.  This isn't "unprecedented" this month as we've eclipsed 50 during a couple of prior periods (and even hit 50), but still it is noticeable.   Looking at just the past 24-hours shows that the dewpoint peaked this morning and has actually dropped back a bit into the upper 40s.   Nevertheless, this is the beginning of a juicy period through at least Wednesday night and possibly into Thursday.  The GFS forecast below shows a strong monsoon surge pushing into northern Utah tomorrow with enhanced vapor transport (lower right hand panel) coming up the lower Colorado River Valley and into northern Utah from the Gulf of California at 0000 UTC 2 August (6 P...

Last year, I was sent a photo of Alta Founder Joe Quinney (pictured on the right below) and long-time Alta General Manager Chick Morton in front of a sign for the J & J Quinney Alpine Meteorological Research Center.  Over the years, I had heard from time to time that the U actually had such a center at Alta, but for the most part knowledge of its existence and use was lost in the sands of time.   So I decided to contact Ron Perla and see what I could learn.  Ron earned his Ph.D. in Meteorology from the University of Utah in 1971 and I have wanted to talk with him for many years.  He is a legend at Alta and did some remarkable research on avalanches and avalanche safety.  He famously survived a massive avalanche on Mt. Baldy above Alta in the 1960s (featured in this New York Times article from 1981: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/29/science/avalanches-reveal-their-inner-workings.html ) and working with Ed La Chapelle and others he developed early t...

Yesterday brought some remarkably warm temperatures to the Salt Lake City area, with little overnight respite.  The minimum and maximum temperatures at the Salt Lake City Airport (KSLC) were 82 and 104, respectively, yielding an average temperature of 93 degrees. The minimum of 82 and average temperature of 93 tied all-time records for KSLC.  The 104 ties the record for the date, but falls short of the all-time record of 107.   The day was also exceptional at the Bountiful Bench site, which I like to use since the record there is continuous since the mid 1970s and the site characteristics seem to be relatively stable.  There, the average temperature for the day, 89.5, was an all-time high. And the minimum, 81, tied the all-time high (set on 3 other days).  Like KSLC, the maximum, 98, set a record for the day, but wasn't all time (the all time there is 100).   Setting all-times for minimum and average but not quite reaching all-time for maximum ...

Phoenix has had a long and miserable run of heat so far this month.  They are currently up to 20 consecutive days with a maximum temperature of 110˚F or higher, which is a new record.   Source: https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/ Not surprisingly, the 20-day average maximum temperature is also the highest on record. https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/ And similarly the average temperature for the period (I haven't bothered to look at where the average minimum ranks).   https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/ Yesterday's high of 119˚F tied the 4th highest of all time.   The NWS grid-point forecast for Sky Harbor airport shows little hope for relief.  Forecast highs for the next week are 119, 119, 116, 115, 114, 115, and 115. Accessed 6:55 AM MDT 20 July 2023 Monsoon showers and thunderstorms during this period look to remain spotty.  There is always the hope that something pops up in the right place and right time to clip the temps below 110˚F, but that's not a h...

Yesterday, UDOT announced that it is moving forward with the Gondola Alternative B plans for transportation in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  A full summary of their Record of Decision is available at  https://littlecottonwoodeis.udot.utah.gov/record-of-decision/ .  The Gondola Alternative B plan involves several components, which UDOT is now planning to implement in phases following the timeline below.  If my understanding of recent legislative appropriations and UDOT's plans are correct (and you should correct me if I'm wrong), UDOT has a commitment for the process through the Phase 1 Implementation, which is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2025, and would improve and increase bus service, add a mobility hub at the gravel pit near the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, add bus stops at Snowbird and Alta, add tolling above the White Pine Parking lot, and impose parking restrictions along SR-210 near Snowbird and Alta.   The mobility hub would be accessed by sou...

Chances are you've seen some of the footage of the remarkable flooding in the northeast the past couple of days.   We will focus here on the Adirondack Mountains of New York and the Green Mountains of Vermont.  The National Weather Service Burlington Forecast Office produced a map earlier today of the storm total precipitation for their forecast area, which extends across northern New York.  The event featured impressive enhancement over the Green Mountains and portions of the Adirondacks.  In the case of the Greens, a broad area of more than 5" fell including more than 9" in Plymouth just to the south of Killington along Route 100.  In the Adirondacks, more than 5" fell in Newcomb.   Flooding, mudslides, and washed out roads have occurred in many areas.  Below is drone footage from yesterday in Montpelier, which was posted by The Weather Channel. WATCH: Drone footage captures the extent of yesterday's significant flooding in Montpelier, Verm...

July.  I'm not a fan.  At least in Utah.   I hear a lot of people saying it hasn't been too bad so far.  I think that perspective is strongly skewed by the intense heat of last summer.   For the first 9 days of this July had an average temperature of 81.8˚F at the Salt Lake City International Airport.  That's an incredible 5.9˚F cooler than the first 9 days of last July.  However, let's put it into context.   Temperatures in Salt Lake City have climbed markedly in recent decades.  Prior to 1973, there were no years in which the average temperature for July 1–9 was above 80˚F.   Since then, there have been 20.  This year's 81.8˚F ranks as 11th all time.  The average maximum temperature (95.1˚F) rates as 16th all time and the average minimum temperature (68.4˚F) rates as 10th all time.  I see lots of comments about how this is urban heat island as if this changes anything.  Yes, the warming trend in ...

Several media outlets are reporting this week that the Great Salt Lake appears to have crested for the summer.  For example, the Salt Lake Tribune reported today that the lake entered the week at 4,193.8 feet elevation at the Great Salt Lake State Park Marina, which is 3.5 feet higher than last year at this time and 5 feet above the record low in November.   That is of course good news.  However, it is somewhat misleading.  A rock-fill causeway has divided the lake for decades.  Essentially, the Great Salt Lake is two lakes, and that is especially true today because the berm in the causeway between the north and south arms of the lake was raised in February .  Most of the freshwater inflow to the lake enters the south half, so this has helped to lower the salinity in the south arm (important for brine shrimp), but it has also enabled the south arm to rise more rapidly since the flow to the north arm has been reduced.   We can see this in lak...

After a one month hiatus, I returned to Utah over the weekend and am back in the office this morning. The past month I was in Europe for a trip that was about 1/3 work and 2/3 vacation, although even the former was enjoyable and involved spending a week in St. Gallen, Switzerland for the International Conference on Alpine Meteorology and a couple of days at the University of Innsbruck.   Our trip began in Normandy, France, which was much prettier than expected, especially along the English Channel. A popular spot to visit is Mont Saint Michel, which you may recognize from the picture below.  Places like this are overwhelmed with tourists, so we tend to visit early or late in the day.  This summer marks 1,000 years since construction at this site began.  1,000 years!  Despite the crowds, I always find touring through places like this very interesting.   We also spent an afternoon in Saint Malo just a bit down the road.  The so-called "walled c...