And Then Depression Set In....

That quote, uttered by Bill Murray character John Wingo in the Oscar-snubbed film Stripes, pretty much sums up the situation this morning.

The upper-air sounding from this morning shows little change compared to yesterday.  We are capped under a very strong inversion in which temperatures increase from -13.1ºC at 5933 ft to 0.0ºC at 7534 ft.

In the Salt Lake Valley, particulate matter concentrations continue to climb.  The eclipsed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5 yesterday and now sit at 47.5 ug/m3.

Source: Utah Division of Air Quality

The one silver lining in this event (if there is one) is that the base of the inversion is still elevated.  As a result, emissions are mixing through a layer that is about 1700 ft deep, which probably helps keep concentrations a bit lower than they would be if the inversion where based at the valley floor, as sometimes occurs during inversion events.

We're stuck with this until at least Tuesday.  Forecasts for mid week vary in the intensity and timing of an approaching trough, so we're just going to have to see in a couple of days if there's any hope of busting this thing out.

As is usually the case during inversions, the weather is spectacular in the mountains.  High temperatures yesterday at the base of Alta were in the 40s.  Escape and enjoy.