Wasatch Weather Weenies

October is a great month in Utah and this weekend has been a beauty.  Fall and winter seasons were in evidence this morning in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Although past peak, golden aspens were still in abundance.   Then there's the snow on the high north aspects. I'm curious to see how much of that snow can survive this week.  Under clear skies, it can be hard to melt snow this time of year on shady north aspects, but the models are advertising a late-monsoon moisture surge later in the week with mild 700-mb temperatures, cloud cover, and snow levels that could be above 10,000 feet on Thursday.    That's a recipe for rain on snow to at least 10,000 feet so maybe we will lose some of that high north snowpack before the trough swings through and temperatures fall.   We shall see...

As August airmasses go, this has been a good one.  Visibility today was really incredible.  It was crystal clear this morning on Mt. Baldy. For those of you with the desire for turns, there's still some snow covering the Timpanogos Rock Glacier. Sadly, our brief flirtation with cooler weather is almost over as heat returns this week.  Today's infographis from the NWS is as grating as it gets.  Blah. Source: NWS.  Downloaded 7:03 PM MDT Sunday 10 August 2025

As much as people like to argue about whether or not ski area snowfall reports are legit, but perhaps there's more to argue about in the "day's of sunshine claim."   Snow Brains recently published a top 7 list of the sunniest ski resorts in America.  Coming in at #1 was Palisades Tahoe with "more than 300 sunny days per year." The 300 days of sunshine claim as been around for as long as I can remember.  When I was a kid, walking uphill both ways to school in sub-zero temperatures in upstate NY, I used to read promotional brochures from the Lake Tahoe area claiming more than 400" of snow and 300 days of sunshine and dream about how incredible the skiing must be there.  I mean, it must either be snowing or sunny!  What could be better.  Source:  https://visitlaketahoe.com/ski-and-snowboard/and-the-award-for-the-best-weather-to-ski-in-lake-tahoe /  However, there are many things that are puzzling about that number.  First, it is an annual n...

I've spent the past several days in upstate New York where I visited the atmospheric sciences department at SUNY Albany and attended the Northeast Regional Operational Workshop where I gave a talk on our lake-effect work. It's great to reacquaint with Anton Seimon (farther right below) who I haven't seen in about 20 years, but who is one of the best meteorological analysts I know.  A cyclone aficionado, he brought some Bombogenesis Double IPA with him.  Given that it was morning and we had work to do, this photo is staged.  No beer was consumed, sadly.  I also visited the "headquarters" of the New York Mesonet, which has come together in the past few years and includes at least one station in every county.  The Mesonet has had a major impact on weather analysis and forecasting in New York and dear to my heart they have about 20 stations equipped with specialized snow-measurement instrumentation.  These are primarily on Tug Hill and in the Adironda...

After an aborted attempt to ski Kings Peak in May (see Uinta Misadventures ), my son and I decided we needed to go back this summer and make the summit.  I have lived in Utah for 23 years and incredibly haven't done Kings Peak, so we left Friday afternoon to try and bag it Saturday (yesterday).  The hike in on Friday evening was as enjoyable as a long slog can be.  The meadows were pretty and the trail dry and fast.  We realized quickly what a folly it had been to try and ski Kings in May with patchy, unsupportable snow on AT gear.  Good golly, what a long approach for what would have been a minimal amount of turns! Friday night I awoke at 2 AM or so and peered out at wonderfully clear skies.  Sunrise Saturday morning was beautiful.  However, just visible in the pond reflection are some clouds that were floating about and gave me a little heartburn.  I was mainly concerned about afternoon thunderstorms.  I had anticipated a slight...

My knee is still talking to me on descents, and I'm sick of hiking up Snowbird, so I elected to go up to Snowbasin today, bag Mt. Ogden, and take advantage of the Needles gondola for a good portion of the descent. It's been about 15 years since I've been on Mt. Ogden.  It's quite a peak, with a stupendous view, so I wonder what took me so long for a return visit. Mt. Ogden from the lower Snowbasin slopes The morning weather at Snowbasin was better than it was over the Salt Lake Valley and central Wasatch where it was raining when I left.  Nevertheless, there were some scattered showers, which made for some picturesque virga shafts. My timing for summiting wasn't great as it was about as cloudy as it would be all day, but I have always liked being on narrow alpine ridges when there is a cool orographic cloud with the base right near the summit.  It creates a cool scene with the clearer skies upwind.  The summit was socked in an frigid.  25ºF w...

Unless you live in a cave, you know that all of North America will experience an eclipse of the sun this coming Monday (Aug 21), with the path of totality passing just to our north across central Idaho and Wyoming. Source: NASA Source: NASA Salt Lake will see around 90% coverage and southern Utah around 75%. Meteorological changes accompanying the eclipse are likely to be substantial and greatest near the path of totality in areas that are cloud free and prone to large diurnal cycles.  Studies of previous solar eclipses have documented dramatic declines in incoming solar radiation and temperature followed by recovery.  In some cases, surface-based inversions form, as one would expect under clear skies overnight.  For example, observations of the 10 May 1994 total eclipse show near-surface temperature falls of as much as 6ºC (about 11ºF) and the development of a surface-based inversion for approximately one hour. (a) Solar irradiance (dark line) during the 1...

As many of you already know, the Uinta Mountains are often another world weather wise compared to the Wasatch Front. Indeed that was the case today as our hike turned into a quagmire thanks to thunderstorms that fired up near the Uinta crest. I knew there was a chance we'd get caught out, so our plan for the day was to hike the Highline Trail to either Rocky Sea Pass or Naturalist Basin, hopefully being down in the trees if anything sparked.    Ideally, we would have had a crack of dawn start, but it's hard to get the teenager out of bed, so we hit the trail mid morning. After a quick approach, we approachedNaturalist Basin, but heard a few rumbles to the east.  Not a good sign. Eventually it was clear the time had come to turn around, so we headed back down.  That's when things really fell apart.  First heavy rain turned the trail into a quagmire. And then the pea size hail started.  Although not large, the some of the larger stones stun...

With 29 days in the bag for the month, the average temperature at Salt Lake City for this June is 77.3ºF, just 0.2ºF behind 2015 for the hottest of all-time. Source: NOAA Regional Climate Centers I've run some quick numbers using the last night's minimum temperature (74ºF) and the forecast maximum for the day (91ºF).  Those will bump this June up about .15ºF, which will put us very close to 2015 (and within the roundoff uncertainty of the monthly mean data I have access to, which is rounded off to the nearest tenth of a degree).  Much will depend on today's maximum and whether or not we get some dramatic cooling from precipitation to lower the minimum.  In either event, 2015 and 2016 will stand as back-to-back Junes of unusual warmth compared to past Junes in the historical record. Meanwhile, here in the Northeast, yesterday was an "excursion" day at our conference, allowing us to get out into the Adirondack Mountains and climb Giant Mountain.  The day sta...

A microclimate refers to the unique meteorological conditions that occur at a given location or area.  Mountainous regions tend to produce a plethora of microclimates due to the strong influence that complex terrain has on meteorology.  Below are my top-10 U.S. ski-area microclimates, plus some honorable mentions, based on remarkable aspects of the snowfall characteristics compared to the surrounding area or region. 10. Wolf Creek Pass, CO Colorado is not especially snowy, but Wolf Creek Pass is the exception to the rule.  At an altitude of 10,640 feet, the long-term observing site at Wolf Creek Pass has an average annual snowfall of 435 inches, highest in the state.  In addition, Wolf Creek Pass is well situated to be pounded in warm storms with southwesterly flow, resulting in snow with a higher average water content than found elsewhere in Colorado [10.3% ( Judson and Doesken 2000 )]. 9. Gore Mountain, NY Not all microclimates are good for skiing.  Th...