M.L.K Day

TL;DR: Snow tapers off today. Cold temperatures tomorrow. Storm Wednesday. 

Nowcast:

We once again find ourselves waking up to new snow. While many other areas had snow tapered off throughout the day yesterday, Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) remained triumphant as its favorite NW flow kept things going throughout the night within what weather.gov called a "a moist dendritic growth zone". 

Alta-Collins (CLN) has reported 28cm of new snow between 1700 yesterday to 0800 this morning. 

Mesowest Data for the Alta Collins (CLN) Study Plot at Alta, UT

Evan Thayer, forecaster for OpenSnow, summarized the storm totals nicely, looking at new snow since January 4. These numbers are... impressive:

Storm totals, per Evan Thayer; OpenSnow 

For this morning (0700 local), valley temperatures are in the mid 30s with scattered light winds. The sun will be coming out today, so be prepared for icy roads. Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC) is looking at temperatures ranging from 31 to 22 F, and LCC ranges from 28 at the mouth of the canyon, to 12 F in the resort. 

The current image of the Alta snow stake, having been cleared off from last night's snow, looks, cold. 

Alta snow stake looks cold! Per Alta.com

Things will be slowing down today, with *only 1-3" of snow expected in areas such as LCC, so be sure to follow UDOT on their social to stay informed about road openings, conditions, closures, etc. 

Short-Medium Term:

A run of the NAM for the area surrounding Alta Ski Area shows more precipitation coming back around 0600 local on Wednesday January 17. They will be seeing decreasing temperatures steadily between now through Tuesday morning, before the temperature hovers around 25 F accompanying the next wave of snow. 

This snow will be rushed in with W-SW winds, and might pack some decent accumulations. 

https://weather.utah.edu/

How much snow will this next wave bring? It's hard to say for now, but current plumes project somewhere around 20". 

https://weather.utah.edu/

Long Term:

This storm is still taking shape, so be sure to continue checking Utah Ski Weather for all the latest. 

Backcountry Comments:

Per the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, a skier lost their life yesterday, January 14 while skiing in the backcountry. My thoughts go out to this individual, and all of their loved ones. 

As for the Wasatch, there have now been two reports of full burials. One in Main Porter, and another in American Fork. Both skiers were recovered. 

Even as the colors change, avalanche danger remains extremely high and all avalanche terrain must be avoided. Continue to check the Utah Avalanche Center today, tomorrow, and every day you plan to travel in the backcountry.