Today is a day to keep an eye to the sky as it will be very interesting to see what happens to the valley cold pool (a.k.a. inversion) this afternoon. Winds aloft are presently fairly weak, but are expected to increase dramatically during the day. By late this afternoon, the 700-mb (crest-level) flow is forecast to be about 40 or 45 knots over Salt Lake City.
Can the valley cold pool withstand this sort of onslaught of strong flow aloft? Will the benches scour out while a thin lens of cold air and pollution remains on the valley floor? Time will tell. Our models struggle with cold-pool erosion, so these are the days that I watch and learn.
In any event, the cold pool won't last long as a cold front will move in on Thursday, bringing some freshies for the mountains and the valleys. I may have to do a tour in the Avenues foothills on Friday if the front comes through.
The air behind the front is extremely cold, with 700-mb (crest-level) temperatures dropping below -18ºC on Friday.
I suspect that's the coldest air of the season. Bundle up good if you are skiing Friday or Saturday. Temperatures are likely to be below 0ºF in the higher elevations.
0 comments:
Post a Comment