Utah Daily Snow

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By Evan Thayer, Forecaster Posted 4 years ago July 23, 2019

Summer Update III - Going over the HUMP

Summary

We are in the hottest stretch of summer, which means that once we get thru it, temperatures should start cooling all the way into the winter ski season.

Short Term Forecast

Recap:  Hot Hot Hot!  We continue to suffer thru the worst heat of summer.... So far, we've been hot and dry this month.  June was cool and dry, but once that calendar flipped to July, the heat was on.  So far we've been well above normal for the month of July, which is statistically already our hottest month.  To make matters worse, we've continued to be dry.  SLC has not had measurable rainfall since July 4th, so almost 3 weeks.  Total precip this summer (June and July) is only 0.26" at the SLC airport which is significantly below normal (1.37").  Of course, this is coming off one of our wettest springs on record, so we are still well above normal for the year in terms of precipitation.  

Yesterday (July 22) was the hottest day of the year so far with a max temp of 103F at the SLC airport.  This has been the 4th triple digit day of the year so far.  I've personally been escaping to high elevation almost daily where temps are in the 70s and far more comfortable.  There is STILL a decent amount of snow remaining above 10,000 feet.  Here's a pic from the mountains yesterday evening: 

Forecast: Some bad news and good news....  The bad news is that it will continue to be hot for the foreseeable future.  The good news is that it might not be quite as hot as we cool off 5 degrees or so later this week into this weekend.  It will still be in the 90s in the valleys and 70s and 80s in the mountains, but not quite as scorching.  We will also see moisture increasing just a bit for the second half of this week as some marginal monsoonal moisture surges north into Utah.  Maybe, just maybe, we can get lucky and get hit with some cooling rains at some point this week.  Here is an animation showing occasional surges of moisture pushing up into Utah over the next two weeks: 

Fingers crossed that we will close out July and begin August with some much-needed precipitation across the state.  

Extended Forecast

Maybe more importantly.... WE ARE CRESTING THE HUMP!   Statistically we are in the hottest two-week period of the year in Utah.  After that, climatology suggests that we will start cooling off.  The nights get longer and we also see a rapid drop in nocturnal temps which really helps with comfort levels.  You can see us right at the top of the hump today (July 23rd): 

Notice that the daily average temps drops about 8F between now and the end of August.  Before you know it, we will be seeing chances for snow again in the mountains.  Hang in there a little longer! 

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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