Utah weather
- Thread starter skimore
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Admin":285mrvdx said:
Can someone explain how 500+ inches of snow can fall somewhere during one half of the year, but it's virtually dry during the other half?
jasoncapecod
Well-known member
The Westerly’s lift north during the summer, effectively cutting off the moist Pacific flow. Towards late summer the monsoon develops, increasing your chances of a thunder storm…
Cool moist winters ,hot dry summers, sounds perfect to me..
jasoncapecod":3fnnpshy said:
I lived in Albuquerque for four years... spend a summer there and then tell me how you feel about hot, dry summers. Everyone goes on about "oh, it's a dry heat," but when it gets to the mid 90s or higher every single day, it doesn't matter how dry it is. I started having hallucinations about a nice rainy day.
Now, admittedly we have a bit more recreation area at elevation than ABQ, which is more or less limited to Sandia Peak, but around here if it's too hot just go up 1,000 feet. Simple.
Honestly, I love the days on end around here that hover within a couple of degrees of 95. If you ever want a chuckle look at one of those Weather.com-style icon 5-day forecasts for us around midsummer -- you'll just see the same sun icon and temperatures repeated across the board.
Honestly, I love the days on end around here that hover within a couple of degrees of 95. If you ever want a chuckle look at one of those Weather.com-style icon 5-day forecasts for us around midsummer -- you'll just see the same sun icon and temperatures repeated across the board.
Completely dry summers in the Wasatch is not really true. Checkout http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USUT0002_f.html. 2 inches of rain in a month (usually in just a few storms) is more than enough to ruin a hike or a day of waterskiing (as I experienced many times growing up in Utah). Moving to the California coast area from Utah made me realize what a truly Mediterranean climate is like - check out http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/USCA0993_f.html. With an average of .06 inches of July precip I can go wakeboarding/hiking/etc. on any given day with literally no worry of getting rained out.
Admin":2xu8t0nb said:
Actually, not true. You've got the beautiful (and overlooked) Manzanos just south of I-40, the Jemez (stunning) less than an hour away, and piles of mountains from Santa Fe north.
You enjoy seeing the "blazing sun" icon every day. I got tired of it after a while.
All but August, September and October were lift-served.
And I forgot to comment on this:
I'll remind you that I spent 8 years living along Florida's Gulf coast and can therefore comfortably assure you that there's a world of difference between hot & dry, and hot & humid. 100 and dry around here is 10x more comfortable than 88 back there.
And I forgot to comment on this:
jamesdeluxe":2cqz4d5y said:
I'll remind you that I spent 8 years living along Florida's Gulf coast and can therefore comfortably assure you that there's a world of difference between hot & dry, and hot & humid. 100 and dry around here is 10x more comfortable than 88 back there.
Marc_C
Active member
Not only was that a big year (~750") but the spring was also cooler and wetter than normal, which went a long way in preserving the snowpack for those willing to hike for it after July 4th.Admin":2nyb4s49 said:
In most years, by the end of June all that's left are some scraps in a few of the high, protected, N - NE aspects. It really depends on how hot and moist May is.
EMSC
Well-known member
Holy cow a hot topic going here.
Let me jump in too
Had friends that lived in Phoneix for a couple years and hated it. The only time they could go outdoors to exercise was in the middle of the night when temps came down to all of the 80's. That is too hot of a summer no matter how dry. For me I love days that hit about 90 in Den. Certainly above 95F, it's more like a pizza oven. Dry, but too hot... (for me). Denver (and I'd assume SLC) has only a handful of days in the summer where you feel it is flat out too hot, and then like admin says, go drive a short bit into the mtns to cool off (or waterski or etc.. at the reservoirs).
I guess we must be just enough downstream from Utah. A fair amount of afternoon thunderstorms here in summer (especially during the monsoon period which usually lasts 3-4 weeks). Though plenty of dry periods too, after ~mid-May and even on thunderstorm days the day starts off without a cloud in the sky till about lunch time.
For Colo, the snowpack eventually melts out for the most part but not usually till late July or so. And even then, if you really want turns you can find a few places to hike & make them. Though even A-Basin has not made it to July in the last 10-12 years or so for lift served (but always till June, and also have a WROD open by Oct in Colo).
Let me jump in too
Had friends that lived in Phoneix for a couple years and hated it. The only time they could go outdoors to exercise was in the middle of the night when temps came down to all of the 80's. That is too hot of a summer no matter how dry. For me I love days that hit about 90 in Den. Certainly above 95F, it's more like a pizza oven. Dry, but too hot... (for me). Denver (and I'd assume SLC) has only a handful of days in the summer where you feel it is flat out too hot, and then like admin says, go drive a short bit into the mtns to cool off (or waterski or etc.. at the reservoirs).
I guess we must be just enough downstream from Utah. A fair amount of afternoon thunderstorms here in summer (especially during the monsoon period which usually lasts 3-4 weeks). Though plenty of dry periods too, after ~mid-May and even on thunderstorm days the day starts off without a cloud in the sky till about lunch time.
For Colo, the snowpack eventually melts out for the most part but not usually till late July or so. And even then, if you really want turns you can find a few places to hike & make them. Though even A-Basin has not made it to July in the last 10-12 years or so for lift served (but always till June, and also have a WROD open by Oct in Colo).
Marc_C
Active member
Oh yes it does! I far prefer the SLC summers to those in the Northeast. The stifling dampness of the incessant humidity just saps you. 95F in SLC with 6% RH feels something like 90 while 85F with 90%RH in Hartford CT feels like almost 102F. In SLC in those conditions I can mist myself with water and feel instantly cooler - in CT I'd just feel even wetter.jamesdeluxe":29c27wce said:
However for me, the intensity of the sun is a bit of an issue. For a given latitude, every 1K' of elevation effectively increases the sun's radiation intensity by 10% (and each minute of latitude closer to the equator also has some increase, but I don't know the number). My house is at 4960', so compared to central CT, the sun is at least 50% stronger here in the summer.
But like admin says, in a 20 minute drive I can be 3500' higher and 25 degrees cooler. Head to the Uintas for rock climbing in July and it's 70F at 10.5K', while the reflector oven white granite of LCC is broiling.
That all pretty much makes sense to me. My recollection of childhood in Boulder was of afternoon thunderstorms that would run south to north along the line where the foothills meet the plains. Thinking about it now, the stagnant high pressure that frequently in summer sits over SE CO or N TX would throw Gulf moisture back around into E CO on a SE flow. When that little bit of moisture hits the uplift of the foothills, voila!