Day 27: The little storm that could.
I never thought I'd be excited about a storm prediction of 2", but after more than two weeks without snowfall, frankly I was bored with the old snow. I had high hopes that the new coating would at least freshen surfaces. And clean out the inversion smog that's been choking the Valley.
I was therefore pleased that 3" fell overnight, but I was also disappointed that skies were already clearing over the Salt Lake Valley as I headed up canyon this morning. While it was still flurrying in the mountains there appeared to be no further moisture lining up to the northwest to support any further accumulation. The other disappointment was the cold. Temps in the low single digits meant that the base, which was warmed by this week's weather, was now hard as a rock. Holiday traffic left huge bumps everywhere and they would be bulletproof. Can you say, "dust on crust"?
The pleasant surprise was that snowfall actually increased in intensity during breakfast and continued throughout most of the day.
Snowfall over Collins
Honestly, this was the storm that wouldn't give up, leaving a good 5 or 6 inches everywhere and even a bit more in places. And it was incredibly localized. At times it was absolutely cranking and always on in Collins Gulch. Snowfall remained light in Albion Basin and it did nothing from Gad Valley westward. Clouds were eddying behind Baldy while the sun was peeking through in every direction around us.
Radar showing the incredibly localized snowfall at 1pm
Holiday crowds are now thankfully gone and not a lot of people headed up today for the reported three inches. We had a big crew of 7 today and we tore it up until 2:30, by which point everyone but the Energizer Bunny, AmyZ, threw in the towel.
It's always a wonderful surprise when a storm under-promises and over-delivers!
Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk
I never thought I'd be excited about a storm prediction of 2", but after more than two weeks without snowfall, frankly I was bored with the old snow. I had high hopes that the new coating would at least freshen surfaces. And clean out the inversion smog that's been choking the Valley.
I was therefore pleased that 3" fell overnight, but I was also disappointed that skies were already clearing over the Salt Lake Valley as I headed up canyon this morning. While it was still flurrying in the mountains there appeared to be no further moisture lining up to the northwest to support any further accumulation. The other disappointment was the cold. Temps in the low single digits meant that the base, which was warmed by this week's weather, was now hard as a rock. Holiday traffic left huge bumps everywhere and they would be bulletproof. Can you say, "dust on crust"?
The pleasant surprise was that snowfall actually increased in intensity during breakfast and continued throughout most of the day.
Snowfall over Collins
Honestly, this was the storm that wouldn't give up, leaving a good 5 or 6 inches everywhere and even a bit more in places. And it was incredibly localized. At times it was absolutely cranking and always on in Collins Gulch. Snowfall remained light in Albion Basin and it did nothing from Gad Valley westward. Clouds were eddying behind Baldy while the sun was peeking through in every direction around us.
Radar showing the incredibly localized snowfall at 1pm
Holiday crowds are now thankfully gone and not a lot of people headed up today for the reported three inches. We had a big crew of 7 today and we tore it up until 2:30, by which point everyone but the Energizer Bunny, AmyZ, threw in the towel.
It's always a wonderful surprise when a storm under-promises and over-delivers!
Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 using Tapatalk
