Keep the Goods Coming!

TL;DR:

    Snow today before a calmer weekend, and more snow coming next week!

Nowcast:

    If you're up in the mountains today you will find cooler temperatures in the low twenties and dipping down into the upper teens around the mountain top level. The winds are coming out of the West, Northwest today averaging 30 mph at upper elevations. The snow is falling and it is falling hard. Snow will continue through today and into this evening bringing some areas of the Wasatch up to another 10" of snow!

If you will be in the mountains bring your low light lenses, it's dumping and the visibility is low. Alta

Short term:

As we look ahead to this weekend we can expect a short break from this storm. a small-scale ridge will form over Utah and the area will dry out slightly. Some moisture will be transported to the area late Saturday night and throughout the day Sunday. This moisture in conjunction with some orographic enhancement could bring some flurries Sunday at upper elevations. This short period of calmer weather is just the precursor to what could be another generous storm next week. 

This 500 mb height map shows the ridge that will reside over us for the lion's share of the weekend (contours highlighted in green). In addition, the blue arrows identify where the moisture we will experience late weekend will come from (blue arrows). Finally, the area shaded green is highlighting the area of low pressure that will build as we move into next week and could bring us some more generous snow totals. The University of Utah Dept. Atmospheric Science 

Long term:

Looking forward to next week keep your spirits high, there is more snow on the way. During the weekend while higher pressure resides over Utah a trough is going to dig down the west coast capturing lots of moisture. This storm will form through the beginning of the week and will arrive in Utah Wednesday. This storm is set up with many components to produce large storm numbers, while still too far out to give an accurate snow total, this storm could produce in the ballpark of another foot of snow. 

Like previous storms we have experienced this season, this trough will dig deep down the western coast transporting moisture from Southern California up into the U.S. Southwest (highlighted with the blue arrows). Circled in magenta is an area of low pressure as well as strong absolute vorticity. Due to the trough's location strong vorticity advection could occur further enhancing the storm conditions. 

The University of Utah Dept. Atmospheric Science 

If you plan to travel in the backcountry ensure that you are properly equipped with both gear and most importantly knowledge. Know before you go, for all things avalanche and the full avalanche forecast head over to our friends at the Utah Avalanche Center.