A weak shortwave trough moved through eastern Utah. Enough moisture and midlevel support resulted in light snow to the I-70 corridor.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A weak shortwave trough moved through eastern Utah. Enough moisture and midlevel support resulted in light snow to the I-70 corridor. This led to hazardous travel conditions during the morning commute.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 15, 3:34 AM MST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 334 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Friday) Issued at 135 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 Clouds have started to increase once again across the Western Slope early this morning ahead of the next shortwave trough approaching the region. Low stratus has persisted in the Eastern Uinta Basin overnight with the Vernal Airport continuing to bounce between 1/4 and 3/4 of a mile, and these conditions are expected to persist through mid to late morning. Snow showers have lingered as anticipated this morning, focused along the Continental Divide, in response to residual moisture, favorable orographics, and ample cold air in the DGZ. Showers and subsequent accumulations have been light given the lack of support aloft, but there will be an uptick in both coverage and intensity today as the aforementioned wave passes overhead. Its axis will be centered over far northeast Utah and northwest Colorado around daybreak before quickly sagging to the southeast throughout the day. PWATs will increase to around 75 to 100% of normal with this system as a weak vort max on the magnitude of -3 to -6 mb/hr passes through. Snowfall totals increased marginally with this morning's package but, even so, remain subadvisory. Generally 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected for most of the northern and some central ranges with higher amounts of 3 to 6 inches for the Flat Tops, Park, and Northwest San Juan ranges. Many valley areas will also see light totals ranging from a trace to almost an inch by this evening. Overall, impacts will be minimal with this event but do still be prepared for slick road conditions at times, potentially during the morning and evening commutes. The shortwave will slide east of the Divide tonight with snow showers tapering off in response. Light showers will cling to the northern mountains under continued northerly flow aloft and in response to weak jet support aloft on Friday but no more than a half inch or so of additional accumulation is expected. Elsewhere, look for clearing skies and dry conditions throughout the day. High temperatures today will generally trend 4 to 8 degrees cooler from yesterday's readings, most notably north of the I-70 corridor with only a slight decrease in high's further south. The cooling trend will increase in earnest on Friday as arctic air settles overhead. 700mb temperatures will plummet to -10 to -20 degrees C translating to subfreezing surface highs for much of the area. Overnight lows tonight will remain in the single digits to low teens with subzero values expected for the higher elevations along the Divide in addition to sites such as Craig and Gunnison. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Wednesday) Issued at 135 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 Any lingering light snow over the northern mountains will finally come to an end Friday evening and overnight as the jet exits to the east and skies clear behind the departing wave. Strong radiational cooling will take place Friday night under a starry night sky, with perhaps the coldest night seen thus far. Saturday morning lows look to bottom out into the negative single digits for many northern valleys and negative teens for the mountains and Gunnison basin. Single digits will be felt across many central valleys with teens in southeast Utah. Very cold indeed under this arctic air mass! Temperatures will slowly moderate this weekend as the flow shifts to westerly and then southwesterly by Sunday with warm air advection taking place as the polar jet lifts north of the area. A weak shortwave will skirt underneath a broad ridge of high pressure on Sunday as a cut off low ejects out from SoCal, moving south of the Four Corners region Sunday afternoon. Very little moisture is associated with this shortwave and the only visible sign of this passing wave looks to be increasing high cloud cover on Sunday. After the passage of this shortwave, the coming week prior to Christmas will be met by a fast zonal flow aloft as the jet remains to the north, with several shortwave troughs moving across the Intermountain West and northern Rockies. Our CWA will stay south of these waves, resulting in a mostly dry period with warming temperatures and occasional mid and high level cloud cover with each passing wave. The next best chance of precipitation looks to occur late in the week as a ridge of high pressure tries to amplify out west, allowing this active storm track to shift from northwest to southeast, allowing these shortwaves to clip the northern and central divide mountains with favorable northwest orographic flow, generating the best potential for accumulating snow. Temperatures still remain fairly mild in this pattern with the coldest arctic air mass remaining east of the divide across much of the heart of the CONUS in the central plains and midwest. The GFS, ECMWF and Canadian deterministic models as well as the ensemble clusters all seem to be in agreement on this solution. The NBM also agrees so will stick with this for now. Interesting to note that there is still a bit of uncertainty with how this will evolve as this is a week away and earlier model runs indicated the cold air settling further west than the latest runs appear to indicate. So will stick with the blended solution for now but best to stay up to date on the latest forecast and any changes as we get closer to the holiday weekend. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Friday morning) Issued at 324 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 Mid clouds will continue to increase across the Western Slope this morning as the next system moves into northeast Utah/northwest Colorado. Showers will increase in coverage throughout the day with periods of MVFR CIGS/VIS expected. ILS breakpoints will continue to be met through at least 03Z this evening for sites such as KRIL/KEGE/KASE. Fog/low stratus will continue to impact the Eastern Uinta Basin this morning with KVEL reaching LIFR conditions. Showers will continue through this evening before tapering off overnight with coverage favoring just areas along the Divide into Friday morning as conditions improve elsewhere. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...Dense Fog Advisory until noon MST today for UTZ024. && SHORT TERM...MMS LONG TERM...MDA AVIATION...TGJT
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 300 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-161500- Lower Yampa River Basin-Central Yampa River Basin- Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus-Elkhead and Park Mountains- Upper Yampa River Basin-Grand Valley-Debeque to Silt Corridor- Central Colorado River Basin-Grand and Battlement Mesas- Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys- Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin- West Elk and Sawatch Mountains-Flat Tops- Upper Gunnison River Valley-Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide- Northwest San Juan Mountains-Southwest San Juan Mountains- Paradox Valley/Lower Dolores River- Four Corners/Upper Dolores River-Animas River Basin- San Juan River Basin-Southeast Utah-Eastern Uinta Mountains- Eastern Uinta Basin-Tavaputs Plateau-Arches/Grand Flat- La Sal and Abajo Mountains-Canyonlands/Natural Bridges- 300 AM MST Thu Dec 15 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for eastern Utah and western Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Snow showers will increase today as a weak system moves through with activity favoring the mountains of western Colorado. Generally 1 to 3 inches of snow is expected for most of the northern and some central ranges with higher amounts of 3 to 6 inches for the Flat Tops, Park, and Northwest San Juan ranges. Showers will begin to taper off tonight with well below normal temperatures expected region-wide. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Additional light snowfall is likely over the northwest Colorado mountains on Friday. This weekend will see dry weather prevail with passing clouds and continued below normal temperatures. Unsettled weather looks to return by mid next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected today or tonight, however spotters are encouraged to report snowfall amounts to the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Generally 0.5 to 1 inches of snow fell across the area, resulting in hazardous driving conditions during the morning commute.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 2022
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1060500.