Wasatch Weather Weenies

It's a bluebird powder day a few years in the future and you're heading out for a backcountry tour.  You haven't picked a destination yet, so you bring your Mill Creek Pass in case you tour in Mill Creek, your interagency access pass in case you go to Cardiff Fork, your UDOT Snowpark Pass in case you tour Butler Fork, and your Town of Alta Snowpark in case you decide to up-and-over from Alta to Big Cottonwood. You pick up your buddies, decide to tour Wills Hill due to the high avalanche hazard, and decide to park at one of the Park-n-Rides at the bottom of Big Cottonwood.  Unfortunately, you got a late start and the lots are full.  You decide your best bet is to drive. Double unfortunately, it's total gridlock at the bottom of the canyon.  That used to be a thing in Little Cottonwood, but now it's a thing in Big Cottonwood too. So, you inch up Big Cottonwood, but when you get to the Solitude Lot, not only is it $10 to park (that's not covered by your fee p...

The U is getting rid of the old-fashioned hangtag permit system, but will it seize opportunities to reduce car commuting? The University of Utah will be moving to a virtual parking pass system for the Fall semester.  This is great news because it opens up a world of opportunities for reducing car trips to campus, including during poor air quality periods. With the new system, your license plate serves as your permit.  Such an approach will certainly be more convenient, although commuter services also claims that amongst the benefits of doing this is a savings of 650 pounds of paper and 450 pounds of plastic. That's nice, but there are more significant opportunities.  As we have discussed previously (see Setback for Sustainability at the U ), the U essentially has "all or nothing" parking permits.  You pay $348/year (~$1.50/day assuming 230 work days) for an A "permit" if you are faculty or staff.  Students can get similar permits to park in E o...

The Daily Utah Chronicle, January 28, 2014 The University of Utah administration talks a pretty good game when it comes to sustainability.  Several years ago they formed an Office of Sustainability, now the Sustainability Resource Center , to institutionalize campus-related sustainability initiatives.  There is a President's Sustainability Advisory Board to "recommend policies that propel (my emphasis) the campus toward greater sustainability to the University President."  We even have a new Chief Sustainability Officer. The U also has the following Sustainability Principles : Integrate sustainability into education Track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions Make the campus a "living laboratory" with experimentation and applied research Invest in initiatives that reduce dependence on fossil fuels Capture and reinvest net savings into additional projects Minimize waste through reuse, recycling, and reduction, as well as composting Purchase susta...

Source: www.tumblr.com In the wake of the busting of my forecast for yesterday (see previous post) and the attainment of 100ºF at the Salt Lake City airport, the Wasatch Weather Weenies will be celebrating an early Festivus and airing our grievances today.   Mainly I just want to belly ache about my blown forecast.  In forecast contests, I have certainly taken advantage of the tendency for the Salt Lake City International Airport (KSLC) observing site to go crazy warm in strong southerly flow, but yesterday's 100ºF was ridiculous.  I still don't believe it!  The afternoon sounding shows a convective boundary layer that extends all the way to 500 mb and a super adiabatic layer near the surface where the temperature was 96ºF.   Source: NOAA/NWS/SPC Such a layer is absolutely unstable and difficult to maintain.  Thus, getting a few more degrees out of such as sounding is difficult, especially when the winds are strong.  Yet it happened yest...