Utah Daily Snow

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By Evan Thayer, Forecaster Posted 2 years ago January 12, 2022

Searching for Signs of Storms

Summary

High Pressure remains fully in control which translates to dry weather throughout the western U.S. We continue to wait for any signs of a pattern change that could bring storms back to the region.

Short Term Forecast

Not much going on in the short term. Sunny skies and warm temps have been the story so far this week. That will continue for at least another day before we see a very weak, dry cold front move through the region on Thursday night. That is going to drop temps in the mountains by 10-15 degrees and could help to scour out valley inversions at least temporarily. The weekend should be cooler than the temperatures we are currently seeing, but nothing out of the normal. Sunshine should still be the main order of business aside from a few clouds on Thursday and Friday on either side of this dry cold front. 

Extended Forecast

Sadly, we continue to "backload" the forecast into the extended range. I don't see that changing for awhile because it still looks like not much is going on. We will see the high pressure move from over land to out over the Pacific by about January 20th. However, at this time it looks like the axis of the ridge will be close enough to the coast that it will still mostly block any storm energy from reaching us. Here are Euro ensemble mean heights for January 21st:

The story is high pressure to our west and lower heights to our east on the other side of the Continental Divide. It's not out of the question that a weak system could dig far enough west to bring us a glancing blow, but that's about it in this pattern. Any significant storms should stay on the other side of the Rockies. Models at some points were showing the ridge continuing to retrograde west, but right now they've backed off on that idea and keep it stubbornly in place through January 25th at least. Here are heights on the 25th:

This means we may stay mostly dry for another two weeks here in Utah. *Sigh* There's really not much hope for us unless we see a major shift in models. If you're longing for any kind of good news, all I can give you right now is that the uber-long range models do show a pattern change still taking place before the end of January. Until then, enjoy the sunshine and clear air in the mountains and pray for snow to return! 

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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