in air quality as a persistent smoky airmass clears the canyons, seen here in comparative images into Professor Valley from a high vantage point on my daily ride.
YESTERDAY around 7:45 am MDT.
TODAY around 8:00 am MDT where one can easily spy Fisher Towers (six miles (9.6 km)) distant.
nearly obscures Castle Valley in the distance, likely due to wildfires burning near Bryce Canyon and in northern Arizona. Here’s the view across the sandstone expanse of Arches National Park caught early this morning from the Moab Brands mountain bike trail system.
Parriott Mesa, the Priest & Nuns, Castleton Tower and Adobe Mesa are all visible 15.5 miles (~25 km) away from this vantage point on the Moab Brands mountain bike trail system.
to my daily rides is increasingly necessary as it’s heading toward 100° F by the weekend.
This morning: Panorama of the Round Mountain Annex to Castle Valley National Park. (Click on image to expandify.)
The singletrack at 7:45 am MDT. Cool. Quiet. Critters. Sublime.
and summertime storm clouds blossom over the high La Sal Mountains. Less than two weeks until the summer solstice.
UPDATE: Peak flow on the Colorado River has likely just occurred, capping an unremarkable spring runoff. Here’s the one year hydrograph for the Colorado River at the Cisco gage showing that this year’s peak flow (blue line) is one-third of last year’s value (brown line) and less than half the median value (dotted line).
paints a postcard picture today, so here it is for all to enjoy. They really should consider making movies out here.
Click on image to expandinate.
in the low country has bolstered the snowpack in the high country, now standing at 76% of the median snow water equivalent, following very closely the trajectory of the 2022 water year.
This year’s snowpack (black line) compared with 2022 (green line).
at sunset with high wind and freeze warnings in the forecast.
snow water content in the high country as a result of several late-winter storms this month. But the valleys remain exceptionally dry, with my gauge recording only 0.15 inches (~4 mm) of precipitation from yesterday’s storm.
Lingering clouds obscure the higher La Sal Mountains where snow is almost certainly still falling this morning.
Current SNOTEL data showing 92% median snow water equivalent in the snowpack with 18 days to go to the median peak.
in Castle Valley National Park. The singletrack beckons.
is ripping apart the dawn skies as the tail end of a small winter storm passes through the region.
despite the recent snow and rainstorms that passed through the region.
A view of the high country with its fresh mantle of snow.
We’re only half-way to an “average” snowpack but there are still 46 days until the typical peak.
herald a big change in the weather pattern for southern Utah the week ahead.
Cirrus uncinus clouds above Castleton Tower.
to only about 70% of median snow water content in the La Sal Mountains as this very dry winter season continues.
Wind-swept rocky surfaces and large snow cornices reveal a high country that hasn’t seen significant snowfall since around Thanksgiving.
covers Castle Creek thanks to the frigid nighttime temperatures, but long crystal-lined canyons in the milky ice open like skylights and reveal the water flowing beneath.
This winter season continues to be cold and very dry. The snowpack in the highcountry is now 80% of the historical median snow water content, but there are still 68 days until the median peak snowpack.
with a normal snowpack in the La Sal Mountains. But it’s been dry in the surrounding canyon country.
but very little precipitation fell in the valley nor in the high country, a bit of a disappointment. The snow water equivalent at the Lasal Mountain SNOTEL is indicated at 113% of the median.
comes to a close in three days on the winter solstice and the extended forecast is for continued dry conditions with moderate temperatures. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting that “precipitation and snowfall will be average or above average throughout the Intermountain Region. The snowiest periods will fall in mid-November, early and late January, and mid-March.” We shall see.
Another vibrant sunrise this morning above the La Sal Mountains. It’s good to be a morning person.
The snow water equivalent in the snowpack has flatlined since late-November, now just 121% of median.
develop and are sustained in deeply shaded areas, seen here nucleating on blades of grass. It’s a frigid microscopic crystalline wonderland.
Click on image to enlarginate.
to the water year in the high country thanks to a pre-Thanksgiving winter storm that dropped 1.5 inches (38 mm) of rain on Castle Valley yesterday.
SNOTEL time series showing this year’s snowpack (black line). Green line represents the median and the orange line is the previous water year for comparison.
Link to NRCS Snotel network.
in the La Sal Mountains, with snow level occurring at about 7,200 feet (~2,200 meters). It’s too early for the SNOTEL network to yield any seasonal information on snow depth and water content in the high country.
