Frigid temperatures for New Year’s Eve, small storm on tap for tomorrow

PARK CITY, Utah – Park City residents woke up to some of the coldest temperatures of the winter Tuesday morning, with many locations dipping below zero. Temperatures should reach the mid-20s for a high today before dropping back into the teens this evening.

Things will change Wednesday afternoon as a weak storm system grazes northern Utah, bringing 3 to 7 inches of snow for the Wasatch, and a few inches in town for Park City through Thursday morning. There is yet another chance of snow this weekend where a more organized storm could bring higher snow amounts somewhere in the 6-12” range.

The abundant snowfall from the recent multi-day storm cycle has increased our snowpack, with most basins now reporting near average for this time of year. It wasn’t all peaches and cream however, as high avalanche danger across most mountains prevailed, accompanied by very high winds and an icing event Saturday night when we saw the snow level rise to near 8,000 feet along with dense, heavy snow. The tail end of the storm Sunday evening into Monday brought 6-13″ of that perfect, light powder that Utah is known for to complete the icing on top.

Recent snow totals, Sunday evening through Monday

• Park City / Deer Valley: 6-11” of snow
• Upper Big and Little Cottonwood: 12-13” of snow

December 26-30 Storm Cycle total snow and water accumulations (from the Utah Avalanche Center)

• BCC: up to 49 inches (5.54″ of water)
• LCC: up to 44 inches (5.96″ of water)
• PC Ridgeline: up to 34 inches (3.64″ of water)

Avalanche danger remains high with an avalanche warning in place through Wednesday morning. There have been 58 backcountry avalanches reported since December 27, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.