Another summer is about (ready) to slip away in northern Utah, with winter in the batter's box ..

On July 23, my brother inspected a late-season snowfield in Utah's Stansbury Range, just west of Grantsville.

Scrambling up to a "crevasse" at the base of a steep quartzite headwall, he measured approximately 35-ft. of snow remaining during the final week of July.

WHAT does this mean for northern Utah? Will 2011-2012 be ANOTHER big snow year? Will small glaciers be forming in Utah mountains within the next several years ???

1993 was a heavy snow year that I remember well. Emerald Lake on Timp stayed frozen all year. This year was a heavy snow year as well, but there is lest snow than there was left in 1993 at this time of year.

1994 however was horribly hot and dry and all the surface snow/ice melted off the Timp Glacier for the first time in recorded history.

I other words, there often isn't much correlation from one year to the next.

This has relevance to all of the west. A La Nina is forecast to develop for the winter.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110908_lanina.html

It could mean worsening drought in AZ, NM and TX, and above normal snow for the rest of the west. I wonder how it will affect the Sierra Nevada and places like the Tetons and Unitas.

And, maybe this is worth starting a new thread in California, but the forecast for areas over 13,000' in the Sierra has a chance snow. It is related to a cut-off low off the coast. Seems early signs of winter are already here. My brother in Anchorage, AK reports that it was fall in Denali last week, and it is fall in the city now.

Scott wrote:1994 however was horribly hot and dry and all the surface snow/ice melted off the Timp Glacier for the first time in recorded history.

In 1994, I was working in southern Arizona, and didn't have a chance to visit Utah until December.

Utah always looks the same (to me) in December - (especially when I see the hefty ELF with the beard).

Lionel wrote:
Seems early signs of winter are already here. My brother in Anchorage, AK reports that it was fall in Denali last week, and it is fall in the city now.

I plan on visiting Alaska next year, where I'll catch some REAL fish and see some REAL glaciers.

I think central Arizona is already experiencing signs of fall. It's been getting down (below 100-degrees) in Phoenix, and the javelina have been becoming restless once again ..

Seems early signs of winter are already here.

Although completely coincidental, it is also interesting to note that at least in UT and CO, almost all the of the worst drought years were preceeded by early snowstorms (1987-1988 being a notable exception).

For example, the worst drought in the mountains of Colorado happened in the winter season of 2001-2002. On September 10 2001, a huge storm dropped 3-5 feet of snow in the northern mountains of Colorado and snow fell down to below 7000 feet. People may have been thinking early winter, but when winter actually did come it was one of the driest on record (and the driest on record in many locations).

I've NEVER visited Colorado - guess I need to visit it sometime.

During the last two decades, most of my time was spent in Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Oh, yeah ... I spent time in Leavenworth, but NOT the prison.

Hmmm .... MIGHT have just figured out my problem.

Guess I need to shift my BIG DUFF out of neutral and travel more often .. ...

Well, the Rockies and Sierra could have a bad drought, but with a la nina, I wouldn't count on it. 2001-2002 was a neutral year.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ensoyears.shtml

The low off of California is a little odd this time of year, but we had them during the summer, too. The recent snow chance is low, and the moisture s still from typical monsoon sources. As for ho winter will turn out, I guess we'll know in April.

I can predict the weather by my sinuses - especially after I've eaten at a Mexican restaurant.

So, what I'm hearing is ... ONLY TIME will Tell ...

My co-workers just drove through Utah yesterday. Said they were driving in snow over one of the higher elevations. The Sierras have been getting rain/snow for the past few days by Independence. I think fall has arrived : )

Roots wrote:My co-workers just drove through Utah yesterday. Said they were driving in snow over one of the higher elevations. The Sierras have been getting rain/snow for the past few days by Independence. I think fall has arrived : )

Right on, Roots ... RIGHT ON. Actually, Autumn is my favorite season of the Year !!! BRING IT ! ...

Where was this alpine ice season that I was longing for in the Sierra this year? >:-(

The last I saw about Utah and la Nina this year was that Utah was in the area that has a 50-50 chance of either being colder than usual or warmer than usual. This was a few weeks ago, and it's the end of November, with 58 degrees coming again in the middle of the week. What has everyone else read/seen for this year?

Ryan202 wrote: What has everyone else read/seen for this year?

Not sure it MATTERS what a person READS. With all the Greenhouse Gases kicking in, I'm SURE it will be WARMER than usual ..