Utah Daily Snow

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By Evan Thayer, Forecaster Posted 6 years ago January 14, 2018

A Real Winter Storm

Summary

Ridge of high pressure breaks down this week with a weak storm Tuesday night and a much stronger storm likely for Friday into Saturday. Significant snow is possible in the mountains of Utah.

Short Term Forecast

Quiet weather continues today and tomorrow with high pressure ridge overhead.  On Tuesday, we will have a weak system pushing into the west coast.  This system is going to weaken rapidly as it attempts to displace the ridge.  By the time it reaches us late Tuesday, it shouldn't be more than clouds and maybe a few light showers.  Wouldn't expect any sort of accumulation.  

Our main attention is now squarely on the system for later in week.  Right now it looks like snow will begin on Friday and continue thru the day into Friday night.  A cold, moist northwest flow should keep snow going thru much of the day Saturday as well in places favored by such a flow.  This is, finally, a more typical winter storm for Utah.  It will be cold, with snow levels down to valley floors.   That means we should have over-the-head blower powder this upcoming weekend.  

Models have been in remarkably good agreement for quite awhile, and that is reflected in the ensembles which all show a good storm with 1-2" of QPF: 

Too early to talk about details but this looks to me like it could be a storm that brings significant snow to many mountain locations with accumulating snow likely in the valleys as well.  

If we look at the model snowfall maps, they still look good.  GFS: 

Euro: 

This all inspires confidence.  This could be a storm for the weekend warriors who have long suffered so far this season.  There are still some slight timing questions.  We are also not quite sure how much snow will make it down to southern Utah.  As always, we should be able to pinpoint things as we get closer.  

Extended Forecast

We will likely clear out late in the weekend into early next week.  Another trough is going to be dropping down off the Pacific coast.  This system may have difficulty progressing inland.  But in general, we should eventually see another storm affect the area between Jan 22-24.  We'll have to watch this.  Storm door stays open... 

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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