Nowcast- The powder party started a bit early yesterday and I got a little surprised that 4" of dense snow quickly stacked up by about mid day. This morning at o'dark thirty, yet another wave settles in and a nice shot of snow is headed our way. In fact, light snow currently falls under mostly cloudy skies as temperatures hover in the mid teens. Southerly winds took a brief break for supper last night, but began ramping up slightly at the turn of the new day and currently blow in the mid 20's near the high peaks. With just about 2' of settled snow the coverage is thin, but riding and turning conditions are slowly improving.   Forecast- A solid shot of snow is headed our way and the storm slides into our region around sunrise. The entire range gets a good dose of snow with storm totals in the 8" range, but it's a North Slope kinda storm and I'm thinking a solid foot of snow seems reasonable for that zone. As the storm gets going, winds shift to the northwest and blow in the 20's and 30's. Temperatures don't vary much from where we're at this morning, but crater into the single digits tonight.    Futurecast- Look for scattered snow showers lingering into Saturday morning.        Our good friends and partners at Salt Lakes National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Uinta zone.     As of this morning, total settled snow depths around the range clock in at: Upper Humpy Basin - 27 inches Chalk Creek #1 - 25 inches Camp Steiner - 19 inches Trial Lake - 28 inches Currant Creek - 19 inches Strawberry Divide - 20 inches        

This Morning: As of 6 am, 4-6" of snow has fallen in the Ogden mountains with 24-hour snow totals of 8". Temperatures are a few degrees on either side of 15° F and winds are from the west/northwest, averaging in the teens with gusts in the 20's and 30's mph along exposed mid and upper elevation ridgelines.   Today: A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the Wasatch Mountains through 11 pm tonight, with periods of heavy snow on a cold, northwest flow, delivering 4-8" by nightfall. Temperatures will be in the teens and low 20's F and the gusty northwest winds will average in the teens and 20's mph with gusts into the 30's mph along exposed mid and upper elevation ridgelines.   This Weekend: We'll squeeze out a few additional inches of snow overnight, and the weekend will feature cool temperatures, partly-sunny skies, and light to moderate winds from the west/northwest.

Around 6 inches accumulated in the Central Bear River Range yesterday. I'm reading 4" new snow from overnight at the new Card Canyon weather station.  About 8" is visible this morning on the lit interval stake on the Beav's webcam.  The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 1.3" SWE from yesterday and overnight, and it's showing a total snow depth of 51 inches. It's 13 F this morning on Paris Peak, and the wind is blowing from the west-northwest at 18 mph, gusting to 33 mph at 5:00 this morning. Today will be rather stormy in the mountains, with heavy snow and significant drifting expected.  8500' temperatures are expected to drop to around 14 F today, 8 to 12 inches of new snow is expected to accumulate on high slopes, and west-northwest winds will blow around 25 mph with 40 mph gusts.  Wind chills will be as low as -10 F tonight, northwest winds will moderate a little, and snowfall should taper off.  Expect crisp, sunny weather in the mountains tomorrow, with high temperatures only around 18 F above 8000'.    

This Morning: As of 6 am, 4" of snow has fallen in the Provo mountains. Temperatures are in the low 20's F and winds are from the west/northwest, averaging in the teens with gusts in the 20's and 30's mph at mid-elevations, and averages in the 30's mph and gusting into the 50's mph at the upper-most elevations.     Today: A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the Wasatch Mountains through 11 pm tonight, with periods of snow on a cold, northwest flow, delivering 2-4" by nightfall. Temperatures will rise into the in the low 20's F. and the gusty northwest winds will average in the teens and 20's mph with gusts into the 30's mph at mid elevations. Wind speeds at the upper elevations will average in the 20's and 30's while gusting into the 50's mph.   This Weekend: We'll squeeze out a few additional inches of snow overnight, and the weekend will feature cold temperatures, partly-sunny skies, and light to moderate winds from the west/northwest.

Current Conditions:  A storm is moving through this morning and as of 7am we've picked up about 3 inches of new snow.  Temperatures dropped into the upper teens overnight and the wind has been moderate in speed from the west.  It was somewhat breezy on Thursday.   Mountain Weather:  We may see light snowfall throughout the day but I'm not expecting much more accumulation.  Temperatures will continue to decrease and drop into the single digits tonight.  Wind will continue from the west northwest in the moderate speed range today.  It'll feel a little breezy along exposed locations.  Saturday looks partly cloudy with highs staying in the teens.  Things warm up again Sunday.  The next chance for snow is Monday night into Tuesday which could bring 3 to 6 inches.

General Conditions   The last significant snowfall was 6" on Friday, Dec 1. 1"-3" is in the forecast today. Warm tempeartures this week have shrunk the base to 17" in Gold Basin. About a foot of snow is on the ground at the Geyser Pass winter trailhead. Season snowfall total is 29". The bottom line is that we are still a storm or two away from having enough coverage for real turning and riding off the roads.  There is enough snow on the Geyser Pass Road for cross country skiing. Remember that the road is technically open until Dec 15, so if people try to drive on it, they are allowed to do so even if getting stuck is a certainty.    Snowpack and Weather Data   Gold Basin Storm Stake (10,000') Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000') SNOTEL site near Geyser Pass Winter Trailhead (9600') Wind Station on Pre-Laurel Peak (11,400') NWS forecast for the La Sal Mountains.