We have a lot to talk about today so let's just dive right in!  

First, we have a weak system today clipping far northern Utah. The mountains north of SLC could see a few snow showers, with perhaps a couple in the Cottonwoods as well. But accumulations look very light with this wave, biggest impact will be clouds. 

Next, we have moisture advecting into the region starting on Thursday. This will be Phase 1 of the big storm. This moisture will move from west to east and will primarily focus on areas north of SLC on Thursday into Thursday night. The Cottonwood Canyons and Park City should still see snow and some accumulation, but the heaviest amounts will likely be up at Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Beaver Mountain thru Friday morning. Per the NAM, the amounts thru Friday morning look like this: 

You can see the bullseye is to the north of I-80. I would say 6-12" is likely for mountains north of I-80 during this time with 4-8" for the Cottonwood and Park City. This is the warmer section of the storm so snow densities will be medium to high. 

Phase 2 of this storm will arrive Friday night and last thru Saturday, perhaps into Sunday.  This is a colder portion of the storm and snow levels will drop to valley floors. This phase will bring an additional 6-12" to the mountains of Utah, with higher amounts possible in the Cottonwoods where orographics will enhance snow into Sunday. 

Summing up by day: 

• Thursday: Snow increases, particularly north of SLC. Some fresh snow likely by late in the day. 
• Friday: Modest powder day in Northern Utah mountains with best totals likely farther north. 
• Saturday: Storm day with snow falling throughout Utah mountains
• Sunday: Culmination powder day with snow possibly continuing in areas favored by NW flow

Total accumulations should be 1-2 FEET, higher amounts are certainly possible.  To illustrate the two phases of the storm, here is the NAM for the Upper Cottonwoods: 

Perhaps there won't be any one epic deep powder day, but there will be several very good days in a row. With lots of terrain open now and a solid base across the state, Stoke is high going into this storm: 

We are generally going to clear out next week, although both the GFS and Euro have a bit of a weak system passing thru on Monday that could fire up a few snow showers. Temps will start out cold which will preserve the quality of the snow from this weekend. 

A trough will be digging off the west coast later next week. Here is a look at height anomalies on December 21st: 

Initially, this should be a dry pattern for Utah. The hope is that the trough can progress inland. Models currently have this happening as we head toward Christmas.  Here is the same model view on the 24th of December: 

Hard to say this far out, but hopefully that means a stormy pattern will develop again in time for Christmas and New Year's. We will keep an eye on it. 

Evan | OpenSnow

I will be at Snowbasin Resort today for Weather Wednesday! Follow @VisitUtah on Instagram and checkout their stories later today to see the full video forecast from different spots on the mountain as we explore!