THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SNOW BUSINESS

TL;DR:

ACT 1 STARTS FRIDAY - DOUBLE HEADER SATURDAY.

 

Nowcast:

At or near freezing when the alarm goes off with a light breeze out of the south. Cloudy conditions to start your day are a hint of what’s to come.

Our opening act starts with light precipitation when lifts are spinning around 9am, approximately when dawn patrol is on their second lap. Backcountry skiers that resemble more human-oid forms will settle into their stride with 0.1 inches per hour of the snowy stuff.

Short term:

Temperatures are expected to rise as the thick atmospheric river (AR) starts to wring out over the Wasatch range. Valley temperatures could increase to 40F and see a snow to rain transition near lunch time. The Cottonwoods should stay below freezing near the mid-20s in parking areas.

The show continues to build and precipitation rates could reach 0.5 inches an hour during your lunch time intermission. There’s a chance 6 inches have fallen by the time lifts stop spinning. Exciting, yes, but hold your applause. The late-night talk show could crank up the precipitation intensity from 0.5 to 1 or 2 inches an hour, with 12 inches of accumulated snow by midnight and ANOTHER dozen inches before the alarm starts Saturday morning.

The double header continues Saturday with expected snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches an hour throughout the entire day until midnight, potentially bringing accumulated snowfall to 3 or 4 feet. Higher totals possible, could be a day to bring your snorkel.

Anonymous snorkler, thank you Moving Mountains for the photo. Catch someone snorkeling the storm Saturday and you WIN 2022. #skicolorado 

Expect cloudy conditions (well, yah, they bring the good stuff) and increasing southwest winds during the Saturday storm. Temperatures could continue to rise at the parking lots and hopefully keep that freezing level halfway down the canyon roads.

Get an early New Year’s Cheers and use Sunday as the highlight reel to enjoy the deep stuff. Cooling temperatures follow a wind shift from the northwest while cloudy and light flurries start 2023 on the right foot. Cya later 2022 and thank you to the hard-working highway, transportation, patrol, operations and shift heroes helping get us up and down the canyons this weekend.

One schedule for the weekend, Canadian Regional (RDPS) output from https://spotwx.com/ at 7000ft

Long term:

Cooling temperatures with light dustings during the week. Another pulse of moisture could be in bound for next weekend, stay tuned to see how that plays out.

Backcountry comments:

Expect changing conditions and increased avalanche hazard. Intense, rapid loading of a buried weak layer could create the potential for very large avalanches as the storm continues. The snowpack needs time to adjust to the intense load and will have the potential to fail on buried weak layers 24-48 hours after the storm. 

If you will be traveling in the backcountry make sure you have the proper equipment and know before you go. For the whole avalanche forecast and all things avalanche head over to our friends at the Utah Avalanche Center here: Utah Avalanche Center

 

Image courtesy of https://www.mtavalanche.com/, the intense loading (stress) weakens the strength of the snowpack. Let's see how it responds and give it room to adjust.