It's been a few days since the last forecast, for which I apologize, but I was out enjoying the snowfall.  Also, the forecast was going exactly as planned, so there wasn't too much need to update.  Our first snowfall in the state arrived Thursday morning in southern Utah where areas above 9,500ft saw a couple inches of snow.  This included Brian Head and Eagle Point.  Then, on Thursday night into Friday morning, a cold front pushed thru the state and dropped snow levels down to about 7,500 feet.  I went up to BCC on Friday morning to hike around in the snow.  At Silver Lake there was about 2-3" of snow on the ground.  Here is a photo of Mount Millicent (Brighton) from Silver Lake.  Notice the one tree still holding onto its brilliant colors: 

After clearing for late Friday into Saturday, the next system dropped into the area Saturday night.  This system dropped into southern Utah as a cut-off low.  Cut-off lows are common, especially this time of year when the steering mechanisms of the upper atmosphere aren't as strong. A low pressure system (storm) gets "cut off" from the flow and subsequently stalls or slowly meanders over an area.  Where I grew up (Western Nevada), these were often known as "Tonopah Lows".  However, in this case, the low was a bit farther east.  Due to it spinning in southern Utah, the mountains of that region have picked up huge amounts of snow for early October.  Yesterday morning, Brian Head was reporting 12" of snow.  I heard from a reader than there was a foot and a half as of yesterday evening.  Looks like it has continued to snow down there per the latest webcams: 

As far as I can tell it's been snowing nearly non-stop and the snow is pretty high up on those tables.  I would not be surprised to hear they have over 2 feet of total new snow down there.  If anybody is in the region and can verify, please comment! Remember, last season Brian Head had a horrible snow year and only picked up a season total of 177", so two feet this early will go a long way to building a base and helping with the drought.  

Farther north, the Wasatch has been on the edge of mostly wrap-around precip with this weekend system.  Yesterday, BCC had about 6" of new snow up top.  I went for another hike and almost wished I had brought my skis.  

Here is the hiking trail buried in snow.  It was quite an enjoyable and peaceful hike.  We had heavy snow at times and then clearing around noon.  Because of the low to our south, the snow was spinning in from the east.  This is somewhat unusual in Utah, but does happen a few times each season.  In such a pattern, you'll find the Wasatch Back tends to fare better.  Brighton's location along the Wasatch Crest means it saw quite a bit more snow than Alta or Snowbird which are farther west.  LCC gets a rare dose of what it's like to be on the leeward side of the mountains.  

The snow has restarted overnight, and it looks like several additional inches have fallen in BCC per webcam images: 

To me, it looks like there is close to a foot of snow on those tables at mid-mountain Solitude.  Maybe I'm crazy... really hard to verify this time of year.  But if we saw another 6" on top of the 6" from yesterday, it's not so far fetched.  

As for the forecast moving forward, the snow showers should clear out today and we should have 24 hours of respite before the next system moves in late Tuesday into early Wednesday.  This should bring another round of snowfall to the mountains of Utah. Here is the latest output from the NAM: 

It is showing a couple inches this morning, followed by 4-5" Tuesday night in upper LCC.  This seems reasonable.  Not a major storm, but another dose of early season snow.  An additional wave is possible on Thursday and perhaps a weak one for the weekend.  I don't expect huge totals from any of these systems, but the totals are adding up.  Overall, when you add in the snow we've already seen, there are places in Northern Utah that could have up to 2 feet of snow in shady northern aspects.  This could prove to be a headache for backcountry skiers in the coming months.  

After this week, the overall pattern will be shifting to high pressure by mid-month.  You can see the difference between the heights today....

...showing a deep trough... versus the heights on October 17th, showing a broad ridge...

This would suggest that quieter and warmer weather is in store for the next week and beyond.  Perhaps a quintessential "indian summer"...  I'm not opposed, I could still go for some mountain biking and like the calm weather to get leaves raked in my yard.  There will be plenty of time for winter.  

Evan | OpenSnow

P.S.  I've been taking a lot of photos of the new snowfall and posting to instagram, follow me at @wasatchsnowforecast if you'd like to see some of the images.