Weather
NOAA has issued a Winter Storm Warning for Utah that begins tonight at midnight. They’re forecasing 12-24″ of snow for the Wasatch mountains. 4-8″ may fall in Salt Lake City. An Avalanche Watch has been issued for Monday.
THE NEXT COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO IMPACT THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION MAY BEGIN AS RAIN BRIEFLY BUT SNOW LEVELS SHOULD FALL TO THE VALLEY FLOORS ACROSS MANY AREAS BY LATE TONIGHT. - NOAA SLC, UT today
NOAA is forecasting 12-24″ of snow for the Wasatch mountains that include Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, and Brighton.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS WITH 12 TO 24 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE. - NOAA SLC, UT today
An Avalanche Watch has been issued for Monday and beyond.
* TIMING...STARTING MONDAY MORNING, DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. * AFFECTED AREA...ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH, INCLUDING THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, THE WESTERN UINTAS AND THE WASATCH PLATEAU. * AVALANCHE DANGER...THE DANGER IS EXPECTED TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE ADDITIONAL SNOW AND WIND.
Utah has been well below average this year with 59% of average snowpack currently. Utah has experience below average snowfall for the past 6 years with:
“If you consider “winter months” to be November thru April, we have now had 9 consecutive below average winter snowfall months in LCC. Since the start of the 2011-2012 season, we have had just 2 out of 25 months with above average snowfall (December 2012 and February 2014) and each of those was just barely above average. To say “we are due” is a massive understatement…”
“Even worse, 24 of last 26 winter months have been below normal. That’s the last 6 years, is winter in Utah officially dead as we’ve known it?” – Wasatchsnowforecast.com
AVALANCHE WATCH for UTAH:
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WATCH FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER SALT LAKE CITY UT RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 619 AM MST SUN DEC 13 2015 THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER. THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WATCH. * TIMING...STARTING MONDAY MORNING, DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. * AFFECTED AREA...ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH, INCLUDING THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, THE WESTERN UINTAS AND THE WASATCH PLATEAU. * AVALANCHE DANGER...THE DANGER IS EXPECTED TO RISE SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THE ADDITIONAL SNOW AND WIND. * IMPACTS...DANGEROUS HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE EXPECTED ON A VARIETY OF ASPECTS AND ELEVATIONS. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD CONSULT WWW.UTAHAVALANCHECENTER.ORG OR CALL 1-888-999-4019 FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. THIS WATCH DOES NOT APPLY TO SKI AREAS WHERE AVALANCHE HAZARD REDUCTION MEASURES ARE PERFORMED.
WINTER STORM WARNING for UTAH:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
359 PM MST SUN DEC 13 2015
WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-
WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HUNTSVILLE...PARK CITY...HEBER CITY...
WOODRUFF...RANDOLPH...ALTA...BRIGHTON
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 PM
MST TUESDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A
WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM
MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 PM MST TUESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO
LONGER IN EFFECT.
* AFFECTED AREA...THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS AND THE WASATCH MOUNTAIN
VALLEYS.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 8 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS WITH 12 TO 24
INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE.
* TIMING...SNOW DEVELOPING AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...THEN
CONTINUING HEAVY AT TIMES DURING THE DAY MONDAY. PERIODS OF SNOW
WILL CONTINUE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY BEFORE TAPERING OFF.
* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED
ACROSS THIS ENTIRE AREA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. THE MONDAY
MORNING COMMUTE WILL BE PARTICULARLY AFFECTED ACROSS THE WASATCH
BACK AND OVER PARLEYS SUMMIT. THE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY
COMMUTES WILL ALSO BE IMPACTED. THOSE PLANNING TRAVEL SHOULD
PREPARE ACCORDINGLY AND ALLOW FOR EXTRA TIME.
