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

199 Pages·2014·8.41 MB·English

by  Jim Steenburgh

J i m S t e e n b u r g h

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Logan
J i m S t e e n b u r g h
© 2014 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by Utah State University Press
An imprint of University Press of Colorado
5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C
Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Manufactured in South Korea
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.
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
The Association of American University Presses.
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.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI
Z39.48-1992
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
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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 viii
Introduction 1
1
The Secrets 4
2
Wasatch Microclimates 18
3
Beyond Utah 40
4
Flaky Science 62
5
Lake Effect 80
vi
6
Alta Goes to War 92
7
Beyond the Ropes 110
8
Powder Prediction 128
9
Global Warming 152
Glossary 170
Bibliography 176
About the Author 180
Index 181
vii
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, meteo-
rologist-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 web-
site; 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
viii
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 gradu-
ate 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.
ix