A crazy weekend of weather comes to an end

 TL;DR:

Strong winds and little snow accumulation expected today. Lower chance of precipitation expected midweek followed by a ridge and warmer temperatures.

Nowcast:

Over the weekend, we had some wild weather. A sever thunderstorm warning, very unhealthy air quality, strong winds, and lots of snow.

Photo from midday Saturday of the wall cloud as it approached the Salt Lake Valley with significant dust ahead. 

The trough that brought us our wild storm over the weekend is lifting out of our area to the Northeast, effecting areas in Manitoba and Ontario and will fuel thunderstorms that are expected to impact the midwest, southeast, and eastern coast of the US later tonight into tomorrow.

As this trough lifts, we can expect continued mountain snow showers throughout the day, with a chance of valley snow showers as well. The mountains can expect an accumulation of around 2-4 inches of snow while the valley is not expected to see any accumulation. Winds will still be blowing as we have a strong jet, reaching speeds of 95-120 knots at the 250mb level, positioned over Utah. Mountain winds speeds around 9,000 ft are expected to stay consistently near 22 mph throughout the day with 28-45 mph gusts, and at 11,000ft winds of 30 mph are expected with 50-65 mph wind gusts eventually slowing down as the day progresses. At both elevations, wind speeds are expected to drop overnight. Valley temperatures are expected to reach the upper 30s, with lows in the mid 20s tonight. Mountain temperatures are expected to reach the lower to mid 20s, with lows tonight around 10.

250mb jet positioned over Utah

Short term:

A cutoff low off the Pacific coast and embedded shortwaves will fuel our weather midweek. Cutoff lows are difficult for models to predict their location so the certainty of the weather impacts from this system are still uncertain. Late Tuesday through Thursday, valley rain then snow is possible with little to no accumulation. The mountains are currently expected to get some snow showers with accumulation less than 10 inches during this period. Be sure to check back at the forecast during the midweek to see how this cutoff low evolves and the certainty changes.

GFS Model display of the cutoff low with the potential to produce precipitation midweek. Initialization time - 06 UTC March 4th

Long term:

After this cutoff low progresses eastward, a shortwave ridge will build into the region, bringing warmer and calmer weather. As of now, this ridge looks like it will persist throughout the weekend. A potential for more precipitation looks possible midweek next week.

Backcountry comments:

If you will be traveling in the backcountry make sure you have the proper equipment and know before you go. Moderate avalanche hazard is forecasted for all levels today. For the whole avalanche forecast and all things avalanche head over to our friends at the Utah Avalanche Center.

Courtesy

Ashley Evans