Originally Posted by
mrkristofo
i don't know if i should even suggest this, but there's still some goods to be had if you're up to par on your BC skills....we're amidst an inversion right now that's rotting out the snow in-bounds and at lower elev's. the resorts are still blowin' like mad, but it didn't get below freezing last night for long at Alta. so there's still some cover at the resorts, but the conditions will be less than utah-esque.
The long range models are pretty inconsistent run to run out to the 11th and beyond, but there's one common thread: this ridge is going nowhere any time soon. The latest GFS offers some moisture and cold air hitting the Pac NW around the 11th, but I just wouldn't put any money on it yet. But for us to not get any snow by the 19th? C'mon....it's the Wasatch. And we have this huge friggin lake, with lots of sun beating down on it, and it's early season meaning it still holds a lot of energy from the summer. The GSL mean temp is estimated at 3.4?C on the 12th, with a potent jet streak on the pacific coast pushing temps at 700MB of -12?C into norcal and backed with -20?C temps off the coast. Now, if this trough pushes inland, the temperature differential (~23?C) will be sufficient for lake effect (only ~15-18?C needed) snow. Now, take that with a grain of salt...because epic lake effect snows in LCC rely on a lot more than just cold air blowing over it like convergence of the mountain winds in the SLC valley, predominantly NNW flow, sufficient instability in the atmosphere, etc; and this is at the very end of a forecast model that generally neglects local orographics and has been inconsistent over the past few runs as to what will happen not only that far out but within the next 72h. In other words, thanks for reading all that, hopefully you learned a little somethin somethin, but the final point is it's too far away for anyone to know shit.
Now, here's your silver lining: you're going to be coming in for a week. So, if I were you, I'd do just what all of us are doing: kick back, relax, and have confidence that Utah will provide.
Edit: send me a PM in a few days if you want and I'll give you an update. Not that I want you planning your vacation around me, but I watch the weather closely (pretty much every model run) and deal with the mountain meteo peeps in the valley daily.