Snow Now, Sun Later

TL:DR: This weekend's storm will persist through early Monday morning then a ridge will move into the region and remain for the majority of next week. 

Nowcast: It is currently 22 F at Brighton and 18 F at the base of Alta with moderate-heavy snowfall rates and calm winds. Plan on low-light goggles for the entirety of this weekend. 

(Alta, Mt Superior https://www.alta.com/weather)

        

Past 24-hour snowfall totals: 

Alta: 12" 

Brighton: 17" 

Deer Valley: 9" 

Park City: 10"

Snowbird: 11" 

Solitude: 12" 

Short-term forecast: Snow will continue from this storm until early Monday morning. High temperatures today and Sunday will peak in the upper teens with winds sustaining 10-15 mph mid-mountain with gusts exceeding 25 mph at 9000' ridgelines. 

(SREF snow and precip totals, Univ Utah:https://weather.utah.edu/)

Snowfall Forecast Through Sunday:

Alta/Snowbird: 8-16"

Brighton/Solitude: 6-14" 

Deer Valley/PC: 5-8"

Long-Term Forecast: High pressure will build its way into the region early Monday bringing clear skies and high radiational cooling at night. This ridge doesn't look to be too stubborn and will be pushed out of the region around Friday next week by a shortwave or two. Models aren't in complete agreement with the timing of the first shortwave moving into the region but it looks to be a progressive pattern of multiple shortwaves. We will have to wait and see. 

(500 mb geopotential height anomaly, GFS Tropical Tidbits: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/)