Wasatch Weather Weenies

In the wake of yesterday's epic storm, which produced a 2" at Alta-Collins, the biggest storm since Jan 7–8 and what qualifies for all intents and purposes as a deep-powder day , fog and low clouds have filled the lower elevations of the Great Salt Lake Basin and Cache Valley.  It was a cool scene this morning with fog behind downtown and in some cases fingering around the skyscrapers. GOES true-color satellite imagery for 1946 UTC (1246 MST) shows fog or low clouds covering the Great Salt Lake and surrounding playa, extending up through lowland areas and the Cache Valley to southeast Idaho.   Forecasting fog and low clouds sucks and I'm not good at it.  With the ridge building in, I wonder if it could linger for several days, possibly spreading in coverage, or if it might break up.  I also wonder if it could spread down into the Salt Lake Valley this afternoon as the lake breeze and up-valley flow advects it southward.  That's really a battle between the t...

Looking south from the upper Aves at around 7 AM this morning Yesterday's precipitation fell with little wind, allowing for to develop overnight along the Salt Lake Valley floor.  This has led to a difficult commute in some areas and some spectacular views from bench areas above the fog, such as the upper Avenues pictured above.  I am hoping that the Bay Area feel of the view might be a good omen for the Utes as they prepare to face the Huskies in Santa Clara on Friday for the Pac-12 Championship. The fog was also evident from the top of the tram at Snowbird.  Time lapse video from campus, compiled by Brian Blaylock, was really fascinating to watch and illustrates the complexity of local flows and wind shear that exists within the Salt Lake Valley and how rapidly they can change, even in a relative quiescent flow pattern.  Wait for it at 10 seconds.