Wasatch Weather Weenies

April 1st is commonly used as the day when the snowpack water equivalent (SWE) is at it's peak in the mountains of the western United States, although in reality it varies depending on aspect and elevation.  For example, peak snowpack on north aspects at 9500 feet isn't reached until late April.  Nevertheless, we'll take a look at where things stand today, a couple of days early, as an indicator of how the snow season has gone. Data from NRCS SNOTEL stations shows all basins in Montana, Wyoming, Colrado, and Utah between 98 and 135% of median SWE.  The fattest snowpack relative to median is in the upper elevations of the Lower Colorado-Lake Mean watershed, which gets most of its water from the mountains of far southwest Utah.  Other Utah watersheds are 100-117% of median. Source: NRCS Watersheds in California, Nevada, southern Oregon, southern Idaho, and New Mexico are generally at or below median, with the Salt and Upper Gila basins of Arizona running the f...

For the most part, there has been good news concerning the ozone layer in recent years as efforts to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals appear to be working.  However, unusually low stratospheric ozone concentrations are presently found over the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere.  Below is the total ozone over the Northern Hemisphere on Friday showing a clear ozone hole.    Source:  https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/NH.html One can compare that to the long-term climatology to illustrate that those concentrations are unusually low.  Source:  https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/NH.html Another way to look at it is to compare to past observations made during the satellite era (beginning in 1979.  The graphs below show the range of highest and lowest values of stratospheric ozone in the polar region (top) and temperature (middle) illustrating that both stratospheric ozone and temperature have been exceptionally low and occasionally at...

I love spring storms that bring snow to the mountains, accumulating snow to my yard, but little to no accumulation on the sidewalks and roads.  Last night's nailed it in the upper Avenues, pictured below.  Valley areas where snowfall rates were higher probably are seeing some accumulations on roads, but like politics, all weather is local, and for me, this storm is perfect. Through 7 am, Alta-Collins shows 8 inches on the stake since late yesterday.  The Utah Avalanche Center reports a total snowfall for the week of 12-21 inches in the central Wasatch and just over 2 feet in the northern Wasatch.  I suspect the riding conditions today will be outstanding and some of the best of the season.  Enjoy but be careful and keep your distance out there.

It was a wet night and morning in Salt Lake City, with a bit of the white stuff dusting the ground earlier this morning in the upper Avenues. Snowfall during the 24-hour period ending at noon today appears to be about 11 inches at Alta Collins.  Thusfar, it's a pretty good event, with more on the way. It's really interesting to look at what has been happening and what will happen from yesterday through tomorrow morning.  During this period, a large-scale upper-level trough is digging southward off the Pacific coast, resuting in southwesterly large-scale flow across the Great Basin. At 2100 UTC (1500 MDT) yesterday, the 700-mb analysis showed evidence of flow splitting around the southern high Sierra, with confluent flow over central Nevada where there was a weak wind shift from SW flow to the south to west-southwest flow to the north. Precipitation was not organized along that wind shift, but instead was widely scattered as convection developed due to heating of ...

Apologies to my readers out there.  There's quite a bit of weather happening and on tap for this week, but I've found blogging to be difficult.  I hope this will change in the near future.  Perhaps if the weather gets a little more exciting than yesterday's scattered thunderstorms.  One of the things I am doing to deal with these uncertain times is to read.  And when I say read, I don't mean news or social media, but books.  Last night I was looking for a challenge and I decided to crack open a book that I received as a gift, was published in 1997, and has been sitting on my end table for many months: The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness .  I was fortunate to grow up adventuring in the Adirondacks and any time I read about them, happy memories surface.  I'm not far enough into the book to recommend it yet, but it has already reminded me of the smell of rotting leaves in the late fall, the way that a canoe paddle breaks t...

It's been a long couple of days as I drove down to Tempe to extract my daughter from Arizona State.  Snow in Flagstaff required me to go through Vegas on the way down, which turned out to be fairly nice as the low desert is pretty green right now.  Returning we were able to drive through Flagstaff and it's really cool to start in saguaro forest and get to snow on the Mogollon Rim.  Sorry I didn't take any photos, but we didn't stop except when absolutely necessary, typically at the loneliest, most expensive gas stations we could find.  I've been looking at the forecasts and they are difficult to summarize succinctly.  Overall, I would describe the pattern for the next several days as typical of spring, which means changeable and showery, with the potential for cooler weather later in the week.  A warmer trough (valley rain, mountain snow) will pass Sunday night and Monday, followed by a deeper trough with cooler air that will dig over the western U.S. and...

Adding insult to injury, Salt Laker's were shaken this morning by what is estimated as a 5.7 magnitude earthquake centered near Magna in the northwest Salt Lake Valley.  All is well with me and my family and I hope the same for you and yours.  For information on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake, see  https://www.fema.gov/earthquake-safety-home .  Below is their drop, cover, and hold on reminder.  Note that if you can't get under sturdy furniture like a table or desk, crawl to an interior wall and away from the windows.  Source: FEMA I did not receive word from the University of Utah that classes were cancelled today until I was halfway through my morning class, which I was teaching online for the first time.  Although I have never taught it online before, the course is laid out in a way that is quite amenable to transitioning to online instruction.  It is a "flipped" class in which the students complete online instruction...