Winter forecast

My current thinking is 80-90% of normal for the northern Wasatch front this winter, around 90% for the central and southern Wasatch, 90-100% for central Utah, 110-120% for southwest Utah, 120+% for southeast Utah. The above forecast is mostly based on El Nino strengthening into a moderate event. If you look at this link http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/cgi-bin/enso/enso.pl?output=2&variable=cdprcp&region=all&event=e&season=win&type=a you will see no real correlation between the average El Nino or La Nina event for Northern Utah. What you do see is a better chance of above normal precipitation for southern Utah during El Nino events and a better chance of below normal precipitation for southern Utah in La Nina events. Strong El Nino or La Nina events can bring above normal precipitation for northern Utah but not always.

Summer - Thunderstorms

The main thing to watch for in the summer in Utah is the amount monsoonal moisture with leads to thunderstorms focused in the afternoon/evening hours over and near the mountains. A big push of monsoonal moisture can bring local flooding with widespread thunderstorms during all hours of the day.

Winter is not over yet!

Plan on 6-12" of snow tonight into the early morning hours on Friday above 8,000 ft for the northern Utah Mountains and Uinta's, 2-5" central Utah mountains, little if any snow for the southern Utah mountains. Temperatures do get cold enough for the rain to change to snow in the northern Utah Valleys with trace-3" accumulation for the high benches above 4,800 ft focused between Salt Lake and Ogden.

Little Spring Storm

Plan on a general 4-8" of snow above 7,000 ft for the Wasatch Mountains focused between 1 am Friday and noon on Friday, 1-2" central Utah mountains, looks dry for the southern mountains. Look for trace-3"' of snow for the Wasatch Front valleys/benches, 2-4" for areas between 5,000 ft and 7,000 ft.

Warm and windy then snow!

Record high temperatures on Saturday (80 in Salt Lake) with strong south winds will give way to snow on Sunday into Sunday night! Plan on trace to 3" of snow between 4,500 ft and 6,500 ft for most of Utah, 3-8" of snow above 6,500 ft for most Utah mountain areas.

Statewide storm

A statewide storm is expected to move through Utah on Monday. Plan on 3-8" of snow for the northern Utah mountains above 7,000 ft, 2-5" for the southern Utah mountains, 1-3" of snow for areas between 5,000 and 7,000 ft, and little if any snow below 5,000 ft.

More snow

More snow fell than expected Saturday night into the day on Sunday in the Wasatch Mountain areas above 9,000 ft, less snow than expected in areas that typically do well in a southerly flow. Not sure exactly why but likely due to the high snow levels most of the night.

Plan on more snow Sunday night into Monday with a general 3-5" more for all Utah Mountains, local 7-11" for the Wasatch Mountains and Uinta's between I-80 and I-84 as a moist unstable west-northwest flow sets up along with a possible lake band. Look for 2-6"+ of valley/bench snow between North Salt Lake and Ogden, other Wasatch Front valleys/benches will be in the trace-2" range.

Saturday night through Monday storm

A strong cold front is forecasted to move through Utah on Saturday night into early Sunday from southwest to northeast. Plan on 6-14" of snow for the Wasatch Mountains with the cold front, areas favored by southerly flow (PC, Sundance, Powder) will do the best. The second piece of the storm is forecasted to move through on Sunday afternoon/night into Monday with another 5-10" of snow for the Wasatch Mountains, areas favored by a west-northwest flow (Cottonwoods) doing the best. After 10/11 am on Thursday you can start looking at the snow forecast links on the right side of the page for more details. Enjoy!

Diving south

Most of the energy with the Tuesday night into Wednesday storm is forecasted to dive through Nevada with the bulk of the snow staying to the west and south of the Wasatch Front. As of now plan on 3-6" of snow for the Wasatch Mountains above 7,000 ft with the coming storm.

Next storm

The next storm is forecasted to move into Utah on Wednesday afternoon/night and continue at times into Thursday evening before ending in most all areas except south of the Great Salt Lake where a lake band may set up. As of now plan on 2-10" of snow for the Wasatch front valley/benches, 6-12" for the Wasatch Mountain valleys and southern Utah mountains, and 12-24" for the Wasatch Mountains/Uinta's/Central mountains.