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Show Forecasters put Utah powder in 'Greatest Snow' pamphlet 1 snowfall, average monthly snowfall, average monthly precipitation or water content and average monthly month-ly high and low temperatures for each resort." That was done analyzing the available weather data from all ski resorts, then reviewing the latitude, elevation, topography and orientation orienta-tion of each resort and comparing this information to nearby weather stations that had 30 years or more of reliable weather data. "Then we used climatological techniques for extrapolating these different atmospheric variables and arrived at reasonable 30-year averages for each resort. We hope the ski resorts, the ski industry and the public will be pleased with our findings." But what about the powder? Why is it so light? Here's what the pamphlet pam-phlet says about Utah snow: "Most of the winter storms that affect af-fect Utah have their origin in the northern Pacific Ocean. As these storms move southeastward across the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, they lose a lot of their moisture. When they hit the high Wasatch and south-central mbun-1 tains of the state, 'orographic lifting' (or the forced rising of air) squeezes out much of the remaining moisture. This produces the cold, drier 'powder' for which Utah is noted. ' "The secret of Utah's unique and wonderful 'powder' is the structure of its individual snow crystals. Under the cold, relatively dry conditions, condi-tions, light crystal-type snowflakes (called dendrites) are produced. These snowflakes are thin and symmetrical sym-metrical in shape (like those seen on ski industry logos) and they float slowly down through the cold atmosphere, at-mosphere, accumulating like 'fluffy down' on Utah's mountains. Many times, cold, northwesterly winds will follow a storm, and prolong this 'powder' snowfall over the higher mountains. "When deep enough, this 'powder' snow gives skiers the feeling they are 'floating on air' as they ski down a slope. This is one of the main ; reasons many skiers call Utah's snow 'the greatest snow on earth." The calculated 30-year average . annual snowfall at Utah's ski resorts is listed in the table below. Travel promoters tout Utah's snow as being the greatest on earth. And now two of Utah's weather forecasters have joined forces to tell the "why" and "how much" of the state's powdery attraction. National Weather Service head Utah meteorologist William J. Alder and KTVX Channel 4 Climatologist R. Clayton Brough have compiled a pamphlet telling why Utah's snow is so light and airy and detailing how much snow each of Utah's 16 ski resorts receives at its base, mid-mountain mid-mountain and summit elevations. ' While describing the climatological conditions that produce pro-duce Utah's dry powder may be easy, the latter task was fraught with political land mines, Alder said. "This project has been as political as it has been scientific," Alder said, noting that not all resorts measure their snowfall in the same way. In Park City, for instance, both the Park City Ski Area and Deer Valley Resort measure snow depths from the 6,900-foot elevation, while ParkWest Ski Area takes its measurements from the 8,200-foot level. "The problem is, one wants to claim they have more snow than the other and that's why we put the elevation in to clarify that," Alder said. Also, not all resorts have kept equal climatological data, Alder said. "We had a few ski resorts that had very little weather data or who insisted in-sisted that their average annual snowfall was equal to or higher than someone else's even though they didn't have enough data to back up their claims." Brough said that dilemma was solved by publishing the average annual an-nual snowfall for every resort at three elevations: the base, mid-level and the summit. "Plus, we provided scientific calculations or reasonable estimations estima-tions of 30-year average, annual Average annual snowfall Ski area BaseElev. Inches Mid-Level Inches Summit Inches Alta 8,500 474 9,525 569 10,550 664 Beaver Mtn. 7,200 222 8,016 298 8,832 374 BlueMtn. 7,800 77 ( 9,175 121 10,550 165 Brian Head 9,700 320 10,350 367 11,000 414 Brighton 8,755 392 9,318 444 9,880 496 Deer Valley 7,200 155 8,300 249 9,400 343 Elk Mtn. ' 10,100 349 , 10,450 375 10,800 400 Mt. Holly 9,200 284 9,640 316 10,080" 348 Nordic Valley 5,500 ,155 6,000 202 6,500 249 Park City 6,900 129 8,085 230 9,270 331 ParkWest 6,800 120 ' 7,900 214 9,000 308 Powder Mtn. 7,600 349 8,300 414 9,000 479 Snowbasin 6,400 238 7,600 350 8,800 462 Snowbird 8,000 428 ' 9,500' 567 11,000 706 Solitude 8,000 322 9,000 415 10,000 508 Sundance 6,100 124 ! 7,150 209 8,200 294 NOTE : Base, mid-level and summit elevations are in feet above sea level. Inches mean inches of snowfall. j 1 |