Wasatch Weather Weenies

What is probably the biggest hiring action in modern National Weather Service history is now underway.  If you are looking for positions with that agency, government boilerplate with links are below.   The  DHA  announcements   for  the   Standing Register  Meteorologist, GS-1340-05/07/09  positions   have been posted. The  announcements are set to open  May 1, 2026  -  September 30, 2026 . PR-424133 ("Harder to Fill" Locations): Job Announcement # (DHA):  NWS-26-12947704-DHA https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/867259300 PR-424134 ("East" Locations): Job Announcement # (DHA):  NWS-26-12947756-DHA https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/867260400 PR-424136 ("West" Locations): Job Announcement # (DHA):  NWS-26-12947773-DHA https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/867260700

Much like Utah, the Alps offer up a tremendous diversity of recreational opportunities in the spring months due to the large elevation differences and diverse microclimates.  The Inn Valley and the south-facing slopes of the Nordkette ridge immediately north of Innsbruck are green with just a few patches of snow hanging in the high elevations.  One can get off work and go for a hike to one of several mountain huts or alms on the lower- and mid-elevation slopes of the Nordkette.  Directly above our apartment we can climb about 550 vertical meters to Umbruggler Alm for lunch, dinner, or strudel.   Similar to the Salt Lake Valley, the views right now are of green valleys and snow capped mountains.  One difference is that things will probably stay green in the low elevations through the summer because it actually rains here.   The next day I skied at Ischgl, which reaches to about 2800 meters elevation, and is fully interconnected with Samnaun in Swit...

I'm approaching the half-way point of our stay in Tyrol.  One of my responsibilities as a Guest Professor is to present a "public lecture" as a way to introduce myself to the Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences as well as the wider University community.  I decided to adapt my "Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth" talk to a Tyrolean audience.   Although the talk had some similarities to the versions I've given in Utah, significant modifications were needed.   The Greatest Snow on Earth slogan is well known in North America, but most people in Innsbruck have never heard of it.  I had to introduce the slogan, and how it is put on everything from web sites to license plates, providing an opportunity for a little humor by imagining what might have happened if Tyrol had come up with it first.    To introduce everyone to Utah skiing I decided to compare the history of skiing in Austria with Utah. There are some great parallels here....

In the previous post we examined recent trends in snow and ice including glaciers and seasonal snowpack.  Here we look at future projections.   I use the word projection rather than forecasts because projections explore "what-if" scenarios whereas forecasts try to predict a future outcome.  For climate projections, the primary what if scenarios are often based on future greenhouse gas emissions scenarios or pathways and in some cases socioeconomic pathways.  These include, for example, moderate emissions pathways in which greenhouse gas emissions peak during the mid-21st century, so-called "business as usual" scenarios in which emissions increase through the 21st century, and others.   These scenarios produce increases in globally average temperature over pre-industrial values.  For instance, the moderate-emissions scenario produces an increase of about 2°C and the high-emissions scenario produces an increase of about 4°C.  These are sometime...

One of the things I'm doing while on sabbatical in Austria is revisiting our current knowledge of recent changes and projected future changes to Earth's cryosphere (the frozen water part of the Earth system including ice sheets, glaciers, and snow) and integratig this information into course materials and public talks.  Austria is a good place to do this because there is a great awareness and convern about changes to glaciers and snow here and winter tourism is a significant portion of their economy (as much as 6% of their GDP based on some estimates).  As a result, there's a great deal of useful information concerning changes to snow and its impacts on winter sports and tourism.   But before taking a close look at Austria, let's take a step back and look at the big picture.  Globally averaged temperatures have increased about 1.4°C/2.5°F above pre-industrial levels and the past three calendar years (2023–2025) were the warmest on record.  In response, the ...

Sometime in early April after a day of skiing I discovered that both of my ski boots had developed cracks more than 1 cm in length in their upper cuff.  Not good.  It's the end of the season and I went around town looking for replacement boots, to no avail.  Then I walked into Sport Wolf, a little outside of the main core of Innsbruck.  The owner, Hansjörg, took great interest in my situation.  He contacted Salomon, who provided me a 40% discount on a new pair (my old boots were at least 6 seasons old and well outside of warranty).  A couple days later they arrived and after an initial fitting at Sport Wolf I'm back in business.  Much thanks to Hansjörg for outstanding service.   I decided that I should get a couple of hours of skiing in the boots and decided to go to Kuhtai for a few laps on Friday.  It was the closest resort to Innsbruck that is still open and can be reached by bus in about an hour.   Kuhtai markets itself as...

After about 7 weeks in Austria, I feel very detached from the weather in Utah.  I hear rumors and see evidence of an abysmally bad snowpack and have been sent photos from Little Cottonwood that look like late May rather than mid April.  A look at the SNOTEL data shows every site in the Wasatch, Oquirrh, and Stansbury Ranges at a record low water equivalent except the "plucky" Farmington Lower SNOTEL which is in 3rd simply because of what appears to be a spurious reading of 0.1".  Pretty sad.   However, I also noticed that there is a cold front coming through northern Utah tomorrow (Thursday) and it should bring a pretty good drop in temperatures.  The 0000 UTC GFS (I'm 8 hours ahead of  you and writing this in the middle of the night Utah time) shows the cold front draped over northern Utah at 1800 UTC 16 April (1200 MDT Thursday).  Salt Lake City is likely to be post-frontal at that time and seeing colder air moving in.   The front will...

It's hard to find the Greatest Snow on Earth in Tyrol, but it's easy to find great mountain culture.  Innsbruck is a college town, with around 28,000 students enrolled at the University of Innsbruck.  The ski and outdoor stoke here is high, similar to Salt Lake.  You see kids with skis everywhere, with bikes a popular mode of transport to the bus and train lines that can take you to the resorts or touring spots.   Nobody blinks an eye when you carry your skis through the grocery store or stop at a bakery and leave them by the front door.  Busses and trams, the latter called "light rail" in the US, are everywhere and those going to resorts are often packed with skiers and snowboarders.   Meanwhile, the lower and mid-elevation trails on the south aspects above town have melted out and there are many bikers and hikers going to mountain huts for food and libations.  The photo below is from Rumer Alm on Sunday, popular with everyone from young fam...

This year has been a down year for powder for me and possibly you too due to the substandard season in Utah.  Here in Innsbruck, however, we had an Austrian powder day today on the Stubai Glacier.  With only a few cm, it wasn't a deep day and I should call it dust on crust, but beggars can't be choosers in 2026.  Some decent turns were had in areas favored by the wind.   Clear days in the Alps can't be beat.  The back side of Stubai has great views of western Tyrol.  The highest peak in the photo below is the Wildspitze, the second highest peak in Austria.   Utahn's are familiar with morning powder in the mountains and afternoon summer in the valley, but the situation in Tyrol is even more extreme.  Stubai Glacier reaches 3210 meters (10,500 feet), comparable to the top of Alta and a bit below the top of Snowbird, but Innsbruck sits at 574 meters (1883 feet), much lower than Salt Lake City.  So we had morning powder with a summit te...

When we arrived in Innsbruck in late February, I purchased a "Freizeit Ticket", an IKON-like seasons pass good for many resorts in the Innsbruck area.  It's more than an IKON though because you can use it on many cable cars in the summer, for admission to some tourist spots, and for access to the local swimming pool.  When I purchased it, the cashier said to me "you realize that the coverage period is half over." I just smiled and said, "it won't be a problem."   The Freizeit includes three days of skiing at the Arlberg.  Yesterday I burned my last, making it my last day "am Arlberg" (on the Arlberg).  The Arlberg is actually one of the easiest resorts to access from Innsbruck because it lies along the main train line to Bregenz and Zurich and thus there is quasi-hourly service on OBB "rail jet" trains that make limited stops.  The rail jet is not high speed, but on the track between Innsbruck and Imst-Pitztal it hits speeds of ...

One of the great things about Innsbruck is easy access in all directions but especially to the south where one can take a train over the Brenner Pass to South Tyrol for the day or a long weekend.   South Tyrol is an autonomous province of Italy.  It was historically part of the Austrian–Hungarian Empire, but was transferred to Italy following World War I, with efforts to "Italianize" the region undertaken by Facist Italy.  Some cultural challenges remain, but today it has a wonderful blend of Tyrolean and Italian culture, beautiful mountains, and a relatively mild climate.   We spent the past three days in Meran/Merano (German and Italian place names are used in South Tyrol), which lies in a deep valley.  They aren't native, but you can find palm trees in Milan giving it a touch of a subtropical feel.  The big one pictured below is in the gardens surrounding Trauttmansdorff Castle.  It's actually from Chile and is apparently quite cold resist...