When we entered March, it was officially meteorological spring. Last week, with the vernal equinox, we entered astronomical spring as well. No matter which calendar you want to use, it’s now spring in Park City.
The weather during the middle of this week is surely going to support the theory that we have seen a permanent change in seasons and winter weather has concluded. Don’t be fooled.
A high pressure ridge over the entire West is setting us up for record warmth for the middle of this week.
Thursday looks likely to be the warmest day with maximum temperatures reaching up to 20°F above normal.
This means we will likely be in the 60s in town with 50s up on the mountain. Expect late-spring ski conditions with morning corn snow, followed by afternoon slush and mashed potatoes.
Locals will know that despite these record warm temperatures, and despite what the calendar says, this is actually Fool’s Spring.
After all, I can’t remember a time when snow didn’t return at some point in April, or even May, to the Wasatch and Wasatch Back.
Sure enough, we are going to dive back into “Second Winter” this weekend as several weak storms bring chances for high elevation snow showers to the mountains. For Park City Mountain, our OpenSnow multi-model graphs show anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of snow this weekend.
This may just be the appetizer for stronger storms to reach Utah next week as long-range models show an extremely active pattern setting up for the West Coast with above-average precipitation likely into Utah next week.
So do not be fooled by the warmth we are currently experiencing in the Park City area. Second Winter is coming. This will surely be followed by Third Winter at some point.
Enjoy the warmth while you can. Then enjoy the return of snow. After all, the key to happiness in a mountain town is to find joy in all types of weather. Next week, I have a feeling I may be forecasting deep powder days again.
For up-to-date forecasts, you can subscribe to Evan’s Utah Daily Snow forecast on OpenSnow.com and the OpenSnow app.