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From Dana Landale
Dear Kevin, Dan, Len, Jodie... You folks always talk about the big snow totals across the state and show photos of deep snow. I just thought I'd let you know that the Torrey-Teasdale-Boulder Mountain area has been very dry. Why?
Dana,
There are many micro-climates in Utah. Every mountain has a "rain or snow" shadow and the prevailing wind comes from the Northwest during most of the year. The exception is during the Monsoon Season. Monsoon really means shift in wind, not heavy rain. During that time of the year, moist air moves northward and brings welcome rains to much of Southern and Eastern Utah. It is that flow from the south that is important for Torry and Teasdale and Boulder Mountain.
During the late fall, winter and spring months, these prevailing northwesterly winds put Torry and Teasdale in a "snow shadow", and unless the flow comes from the south (and better yet from the southeast), many storms simply drop a little snow and move on.
I have seen several storms drop copious amounts of snow in the Torry area. One such storm hit several years ago and accumulated 4 to 5 feet in a matter of two days. This storm was special, because it came up from the south and had a circulation center that passed just to the south of Boulder Mountain. The winds then had 24 to 36 hours to push up through Lake Powell and northeastward directly over Capitol Reef and into Torry and up the east side of Boulder Mountain.
It is only in this situation that you see a lot of snow in the Torry and Boulder Mountain area. You need those storms to take a very special track to dump feet of snow on Torry. Most storms that have a southerly flow will bring snow to the southern aspect of Boulder Mountain, but, this still puts Torry in the "snow shadow".
It is all about the micro-climates you see in Utah. Have you heard the old Utah adage, "Wait five minutes or drive five miles, and the weather is sure to change"? That is certainly true for Torry, Bicknell, Teasdale, Loa and the Northeast side of Boulder Mountain, and to some degree Thousand Lake Mountain.
Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Dan Pope, KSL
