Utah Daily Snow

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By Evan Thayer, Forecaster Posted 8 years ago July 11, 2015

The Boy is Brewing

Forecast:

The heat from June bled over into the first few days of July, but after the 4th (as promised in my last post) we saw some relief.  Temps have been near or even slightly below normal since with scattered thunderstorms on many days.  A low pressure system spun into California over the past couple days and crossed the Great Basin, bringing continued chances for showers and cool air.  Snow was seen falling at and above 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada on Thursday at Tioga Pass.  That snow shifted east, where it was seen here in Utah on Bald Mountain Pass in the Uinta Mountains on Friday afternoon:

Photo courtesy of Matt Baydala (@iskideeppow)

Photo courtesy of Matt Baydala (@iskideeppow)

Dry air has now moved into Utah and it looks like we’ll be mostly dry for at least the next week.  Luckily, this time there is no high pressure directly overhead so temps will warm a bit, but won’t be near the record levels we saw in late June.  Hopefully another monsoonal moisture will arrive soon!

El Niño:

The boy (spanish translation) is growing and getting stronger by the day.  It’s no surprise that the media is feeding on this more and more.  (See: USA Today)  Currently, the CFS has El Nino peaking near record levels in October and then weakening through the winter:

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I’ve been closely watching El Niño’s effects on other parts of the world to see if it is following “typical” pattern.  India normally sees a weaker-than-normal monsoon during Niño, however so far they’ve been at or even above average this year.  Chile is often a South American mirror of California.   They have also been in a horrible multi-year drought, and this winter started just as dry.  Recently, however, things have been looking much better in Chile with several storms pushing in.  Hopefully this is a sign El Niño is kicking into gear.  Finally, you may have seen that the western pacific is reeling from 3 typhoons in the last week.  A strong hurricane season in Asia-Pacific is a typical El Niño indicator.  It has also triggered westerly wind bursts that could be a catalyst for further Niño development.

Generally, El Niño favors areas to our south more than the Wasatch.  However, in our strongest recorded event, we saw near record snowfall in the ‘satch (1982-83).  So who knows?  Personally, I’m hoping for a strong event to ease the California drought and hopefully just shake up the atmosphere. Press the “reset” button on this dry trend of the last 4 seasons.

Miscellaneous:

The Wasatch is at peak wildflower coverage for many locations/elevations.  I would highly recommend getting up there in the next week.  Here are some photo’s I snapped this week.

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I love living here!

Evan | OpenSnow

About Our Forecaster

Evan Thayer

Forecaster

To Evan, 'The Greatest Snow on Earth' is more than just a motto - it’s a way of life. In 2010, he started Wasatch Snow Forecast as a way to share the best powder days with his fellow snow-lovers. Evan brings the same quality forecasts and weather discussions to OpenSnow and hopes you enjoy skiing/riding Utah as much as he does.

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