Winter is BACK

  TL;DR:

Winter is far from over and it makes a triumphant return starting this afternoon; this week won't feature one single massive storm, but rather a slow and steady accumulation of snow.

 Nowcast:

It's windy and overcast in the mountains right now; at Snowbird's Hidden Peak, we've got sustained winds of around 25mph and gusts up to 45mph, with weaker winds at less exposed locations. Temperatures are fairly warm (25-30°F), but the windchill is dropping the feel-like values, so make sure you dress appropriately...

 Short-term:

Winter is not over yet, and it will make its return this afternoon with mountain snow starting around 3-4pm; it will snow solidly and consistently overnight before we transition into more showery snow tomorrow. I'm not expecting a whole lot out of this first wave... but I also tend to keep my expectations way too low :) At any rate, I'm forecasting around 6" for most mountains by tomorrow morning, with the potential for more in LCC.

In terms of snow quality, temps will crash tonight behind the cold front and bottom out in the mid-20s or so in the mountains; thus, I wouldn't expect blower pow tomorrow, but it should be fairly nice!

The Canadian model is quite enthused about another strong burst of snow overnight Sunday into Monday, but other models aren't as into it, so we'll see how that works out...

 Long-term:

The next seven days look promising for those of who who were craving a return to winter. Check out the model plumes for Canyons (top) and Alta (bottom):

You can see that the lines just keep going up, indicating slow and steady accumulation this week.

Enjoy the new snow! This may be true winter's grand finale before we transition into spring skiing...

If you choose to venture into the backcountry, make sure you have the proper training and equipment and know before you go. For the avalanche forecast and other avy-related resources, visit utahavalanchecenter.org.