Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth: Weather, Climate Change, and Finding Deep Powder in Utah's Wasatch Mountains and around the World

Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth

Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth

Weather, Climate Change, and Finding Deep Powder in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains and around the World

Jim Steenburgh

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Logan

© 2014 by the University Press of Colorado

Published by Utah State University Press

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The author has been authorized by the State of Utah to use The Greatest Snow on Earth slogan, which is registered by the State of Utah. Any unauthorized use of The Greatest Snow on Earth slogan without the express written consent of the State of Utah is strictly prohibited.

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The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western State Colorado University. ∞

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ISBN: 978-0-87421-950-0 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-87421-951-7 (ebook)

Cataloging information for this title is available at the Library of Congress.

LCCN: 2014012195 Design by Daniel Pratt

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Photograph credits. Cover and title page: Howie Garber, Wanderlust Images (top); Jim Steenburgh (center left); Adam Naisbitt (center right, lower left); Tyler Cruickshank (lower center); photographer unknown, Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah (lower right). Interior: pp. xvi–1: © Mavrick/Shutterstock; pp. 4–5 © Chris Pearson; pp. 18–19 © Anton Oparin; pp. 40–41 © IDAK/Shutterstock; pp, 62–63 © Steve Collender/Shutterstock; pp. 80–81 © Chris Pearson; pp. 92–93 © Adam Naisbitt; pp. 110–111 © Anton Oparin/Shutterstock; pp. 128–129 © Chris Pearson; pp. 152–153 photo by author.

To my parents, Jack and Janet, for instilling my passion for mountains and meteorology

To my wife, Andrea, for her enduring love and tolerance of my alpine and scientific pursuits

To my children, Erik and Maria, for being the greatest adventure of my life

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The Secrets

2 Wasatch Microclimates

3 Beyond Utah

4 Flaky Science

5 Lake Effect

6 Alta Goes to War

7 Beyond the Ropes

8 Powder Prediction

9 Global Warming

Glossary

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to many individuals and groups who have made my life richer and this book possible through their friendships and contributions. My parents provided the initial direction (or, more accurately, push) down the personal and professional path that led me to write this book. My wife, Andrea, and children, Erik and Maria, gave their love, support, and encouragement through long hours and many ups and downs during the writing and publishing process. Cliff Mass and Dave Schultz have served as friends and mentors throughout my career and as role models for scientific communications. Larry Dunn, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Salt Lake City, took me on my first backcountry ski tour in Utah, taught me how to be a true powder snob, and reviewed an early draft of this book. Tyler Cruickshank served as my best friend and a voice of reason on hundreds of ski tours in the Wasatch backcountry. My former and current research assistants and colleagues in our Mountain Meteorology Group at the University of Utah taught me more about mountain weather and climate than I could ever hope to learn on my own. They include Trevor Alcott, Tom Blazek, Leah Cambell, Will Cheng, Kirby Cook, Justin Cox, Robert Grandy, Eric Grimit, Scott Halvorson, Ken Hart, Sebastian Hoch, John Horel, Matt Jeglum, Jeff Massey, John McMillan, Colby Neuman, Daryl Onton, Jon Rutz, Jay Shafer, Andy Siffert, Jebb Stewart, Leigh Sturges, Peter Veals, Greg West, Dave Whiteman, and Kristen Yeager. Other individuals and groups who provided valuable guidance, assistance, or contributions include Alta ski area; the American Meteorological Society; Ned Bair; Annie Burgess; Titus Case; Tony Crocker and his bestsnow.net website; Erik Crosman; Lynn and Patrick de Freitas; the Electron and Confocal Microscopy Laboratory (USDA); Susie English, Nathan Rafferty, Chris Pearson and Ski Utah; Cale Fallgatter; Liam Fitzgerald and the Utah Department of Transportation; GR Fletcher; Howie Garber; Tim Garrett; Ethan Greene; Steve Griffin and the Salt Lake Tribune; Drew Hardesty; Howie Howlett; Arlen Huggins and the Desert Research Institute; Jake Hutchinson; the Integrated Assessment Modeling Consortium; Francesco Isotta and MeteoSuisse; Tim Jansa; the Japanese Meteorological Agency; Randy Julander and the National Resources Conservation Service; Mike Kok; Mike and Tom Korologos; NASA; Neil Lareau; Casey Lenhart and Meteorological Solutions, Inc.; Ken Libbrecht; the J. Willard Marriot Library; Connie Marshall; MesoWest; Emily Moench; Mt. Baker ski area; Bill Nalli; the National Climatic Data Center; the NOAA/National Weather Service; Heidi Orchard and the Utah State Historical Society; Tom Painter; the PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University; Aaron Rice; Dave Schultz; Bob Smith; Snowbird; Court Strong; Carolyn Stwertka; Andrew Tait and NIWA; Bruce Tremper; Unidata; the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing; the U.S. Geological Survey; the Utah Avalanche Center; Wendy Wagner; Christy Wall; Roy Webb; the Western Region Climate Center; Doug Wewer; Onno Wieringa; Dave Williams and the Utah Office of Tourism; WorldClim; and Jamie Yount.

I am grateful to Robin DuBlanc, Laura Furney, Dan Pratt, Michael Spooner, Beth Svinarich, and associates at Utah State University Press and University Press of Colorado for taking a chance on a first-time author and making this book a reality. GIS wizard Adam Naisbitt at the University of Utah Digit Lab skillfully drafted several figures and provided many great photographs.

Much of this book is the outgrowth of knowledge that I have gained during my tenure at the University of Utah. I thank the Department of Atmospheric Sciences for hiring me as a young assistant professor straight out of graduate school, and the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Office of Naval Research for financial support that enabled many advances in our understanding of the weather and climate of the Wasatch Mountains and the surrounding region.

Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth

Introduction

DOI: 10.7330/9780874219517.c000

Is it true? Does Utah really have the Greatest Snow on Earth? What about claims that Utah’s snow is lighter and drier than elsewhere, that magic snowflakes are created because the western deserts dry out snow, or that moisture from the Great Salt Lake fuels storms?

The first meteorologist to ponder these questions was S. D. Green in the 1930s. Green was an avid skier who worked for the US Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service). Lake Placid had just hosted the 1932 Olympics and was a favorite winter-sports destination for easterners. The West, however, was largely unknown to skiers. In an article published in the Salt Lake Tribune in 1935, Green argued that the natural advantages of Lake Placid were inferior to those of Utah and that upper Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons offered the best skiing in the Wasatch Mountains (Kelner 1980, 155).

In the late 1930s lifts were installed in the Cottonwood Canyons and Alta quickly become a mecca for skiers who wanted to avoid the packed slopes of the Alps or the eastern United States. In the 1940s and 1950s, Fred Speyer, Dick Durrance, Sverre Engen, Alf Engen, and Dolores LaChapelle pioneered techniques for deep-powder skiing at Alta. Their new approaches to skiing could have been developed only at a ski area with abundant, high-quality natural snowfall. Enthusiastically taken up by European ski professionals, these techniques, as noted by Lou Dawson, spread around the world like pollen in strong wind (Dawson 1997, 166).

If Utah were to become a powder paradise, however, techniques to minimize avalanche hazard following major storms needed to be developed; in the 1940s, these techniques didn’t exist. Shortly after World War II, the US Forest Service appointed Monty Atwater as Alta’s snow ranger. Recognizing that adventurers flocked to Alta to ski powder, not to be hemmed in by ropes and closed-area signs, Atwater and fellow avalanche hunter Ed LaChapelle pioneered the use of explosives and artillery to intentionally trigger avalanches before they became life-threatening menaces. Alta became the place for training in snow science and avalanche-control techniques.

With a snow reputation firmly established, skiing blossomed at Wasatch Mountain ski areas now known as Brighton, Solitude, Snowbird, Alta, Park City, Deer Valley, Canyons, Snowbasin, and Powder Mountain. Today, winter recreation represents a $1 billion industry for the State of Utah. More and more skiers and snowboarders are venturing into the Wasatch backcountry. The slogan Greatest Snow on Earth is one of the most successful in outdoor recreation. For many who come to Utah, powder is more than snow. It is a way of life.

Having grown up in upstate New York, my first western ski experience was in January 1986. The trip was a high school graduation gift from my father. We skied on long, skinny racing skis, slept in a Motel 6 in the Salt Lake Valley, and hit five ski areas, including Alta, where we had an epic bluebird powder day. Lift tickets at Solitude were $5. As a budding young meteorologist who had just had his first taste of the Greatest Snow on Earth, I, like S. D. Green before me, began to wonder about the natural advantages of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons.

Over the next ten years I aligned my ski and science passions, eventually earning a PhD in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington with a specialty in mountain meteorology. Incredibly, I was offered a position at the University of Utah right after graduation. It was 1995 and Salt Lake City had just scored the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. I seized the opportunity and have since spent much of my career studying winter storms over the Intermountain West, Wasatch Mountains, and Great Salt Lake (figure 0.1). I’ve spent most of my free time skiing in the Wasatch Mountains.

Figure 0.1. The author on the cover of the September 2008 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Photo by Tyler Cruickshank. © American Meteorological Society. Used with permission.

I’ve written this book to set the record straight: to dig into Wasatch weather lore, expose the myths, explain the reality, and tell people the real reasons why Utah’s powder skiing and snowboarding are so incredible. Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth is a meteorological guide not only to the weather and climate of the Wasatch Mountains but also to mountain weather and snow around the world. It is written for skiers, snowboarders, weather weenies, and anyone else who can’t sleep when the flakes start to fly. I hope it will help you find deep powder and bluebird skies.

1 The Secrets

DOI: 10.7330/9780874219517.c001

On December 4, 1960, the legend was born. Inspired by a recent visit of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, a young editor named Tom Korologos opened a special ski edition of the Salt Lake Tribune’s Home Magazine with the headline The Greatest Snow on Earth (figure 1.1). Tom exclaimed, Intermountain folk will tell you that the winds blowing from the west leave the wet, sticky snows in the Sierras. When the storms reach the Intermountain ranges, only the most perfect dry powder is left. That’s just a sprinkling of what you’ll find in this vast, scenic country that is the Intermountain area. And what an area. It’s some 600 miles long and 2½ miles high. That’s the extent of the Intermountain’s big top which supports this real, true Greatest Snow on Earth.

Figure 1.1. Earliest known published use of the phrase Greatest Snow on Earth. Home Magazine, Salt Lake Tribune, December 4, 1960. Source: J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah.

The State of Utah began using Greatest Snow on Earth as a slogan in 1962 and engraved it on license plates in 1985, winning a plate of the year award from the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (figure 1.2). Utah’s trademark on the slogan survived a court challenge from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the 1990s;