Weather
Two mountain snow cycles are lined up for Utah this week, with the most dependable detail from Monday afternoon through Friday night. The first round comes in warmer and denser, then a colder second round improves snow quality and keeps turns fresh into Friday, with the highest terrain in the Wasatch favored for about 16″-25″ combined during that window. Lower bases still collect useful snow, but early in the week some lower-elevation terrain starts with wetter snow or brief mix before colder air settles in. After Friday night, confidence drops and snowfall potential remains real but less certain in timing and coverage.
From Sunday through Tuesday morning, guidance converges well on storm timing but still diverges on intensity, so confidence is high for a mountain-snow period and moderate on exact rates. Sunday stays mostly showery, then precipitation expands Monday afternoon and night before tapering Tuesday morning. During the core Monday period, snow levels are generally near 8,000 to 9,000 feet, then trend down toward 6,500 feet by Tuesday, so lower bases such as Park City and Deer Valley are more likely to see wetter snow early while upper elevations stay consistently wintry. Snow quality starts dense with SLR around 6-10, then improves to roughly 10-12 late. For this first wave, the higher Cottonwoods are favored for around 7″-11″, while many other areas land closer to 2″-6″. Ridge-top gusts around 20-30 mph could periodically affect exposed lifts.
After a short Tuesday afternoon and early Wednesday lull, a colder system moves in late Wednesday through Friday with strong agreement on timing and better agreement on snow levels than snowfall intensity. Snow levels fall from around 7,000 feet toward 4,500 to 5,500 feet, supporting all-snow conditions across resort terrain during the heart of the storm. SLRs mostly run 11-16, so this round should be more moderate to lighter-density snow than the Monday system. Guidance spread is driven by one wetter outlier, but the broader cluster keeps this as a moderate refresh rather than a major dump. Most likely additional snowfall by Friday is about 7″-12″ in the highest Wasatch terrain, 5″-9″ around Brighton and Solitude, and roughly 3″-7″ for many lower-elevation northern resorts and Eagle Point. Exposed ridges again see gusts mainly in the 20-30 mph range.
From Saturday into early next week, models diverge sharply on whether Utah turns quieter or reloads with another organized wave, so confidence is lower and details stay broad. In the extended range, GFS is close to dry while AIFS and GDPS carry a more active setup into Monday night and Tuesday, with ECMWF between those camps. The conservative ski call is for periodic light snow chances and another 2″-8″ in favored northern mountains, with many other areas nearer 1″-5″; a wetter outcome closer to 6″-12″ remains possible if the active camp verifies. Any snow that does fall in this late window should be colder, with snow levels often around 2,500 to 5,000 feet and SLRs generally 15+ for lighter quality.
Resort Forecast Totals (Mon Mar 02 – Fri Mar 06)
- Snowbird – 16″-25″
- Alta – 16″-25″
- Solitude – 13″-20″
- Brighton – 11″-18″
- Powder Mountain – 10″-15″
- Park City – 8″-12″
- Beaver Mountain – 6″-10″
- Eagle Point – 6″-10″
- Deer Valley – 5″-8″
