Snow College Weather

On Snow College campus yesterday, we got a couple of inches of snow. The high was 24*F throughout the day. This morning got very, very cold. On campus, the coldest temperature was -8*F. The local airport has the recorded lowest January 31 from 1917, reaching a low of -10*F. This morning, the airport reported a temperature of -13*F, so we broke the coldest January 31 on record ! Looking ahead, temperatures will be rising throughout the week. The skies will be mostly clear throughout the week, bringing sunny weather and warmer temperatures. We are looking high temperatures over 40*F this coming weekend.

Over the weekend, we had some nicer weather than we have had over the last few weeks. At Snow College, high temperatures were above freezing Friday through Sunday, with a high of 36.3*F on Saturday.  Through the weekend, we had a low pressure system that moved through Northern Utah. The Salt Lake City and Provo airports each reported about 0.05" or 0.06" of liquid precipitation, including melted snow. The benches of the Wasatch Front reported more snow. Spanish Fork reported 0.13" of liquid precipitation.   Here in Sanpete county, we were also affected by this low pressure system as it moved further south. This morning on the Snow College campus, we reached a low of 17*F. We also had around 0.5" of snow fall overnight in the area, coming to 0.02" liquid water. We have the potential for snow this morning, tapering off into the afternoon. Then as this system continues to move through, we'll be seeing clearer skies and warmer temperatures for the rest of this

Yesterday on the Snow College campus, we reached a high of 23.4°F that is down 16.5° from our normal high of 40°F. The skies overnight were overcast with a middle layer of clouds, preventing us from losing all of our Heat last night, on campus, it we reached a low of about 18° f this morning, which puts us only about 7° below our normal of 25°. Warmer weather is approaching as a high pressure system moves onto the West coast. We are looking at temperatures in the mid 30s for most of this weekend, with our next snow system moving in Sunday afternoon to evening. Snow will last through about tuesday, then we are looking at warmer and clearer weather for the rest of the week.

Yesterday, we were overcast for most of the day, which made it so we could only reach 25*F on the Snow College campus. Last night, just before midnight, the temperature dropped to 6*F, but then warmed up slightly. The coldest temperature we have seen so far this morning is just under 8*F. Overnight, we had a freezing fog roll in over the airport. A freezing fog occurs when fog forms, but the droplets in the fog are supercooled, or liquid but below freezing. When they come in contact with any objects also below freezing, the droplets freeze on contact. With the clearing clouds, we should be able to warm up a little more over the next couple of days Normal for January 25 * High T = 38.7*F * Low T = 19.2*F * Precip = 0.81 inches by this time of year

We have cold weather coming from the North which is continuing to dominate our area. Yesterday on campus, we had a high temperature of 21*F. We saw flurries of snow on campus yesterday, but there no significant accumulation and no measurable water. Overnight, a humid air mass moved into the area which raised the dew point and allowed snow to form, but again with no measurable accumulation. The temperature at Snow College dropped to 11*F this morning.  The cold will continue for the next few days, so we are looking at high temperatures in the mid-20's for the next couple of days and lows around 10*F. However, the Pacific High will start moving onto the coast, raising the temperature to the mid-30's on Friday before the next system moves in over the later part of the weekend.

Sun Pillar seen from highway 89 between Ephraim and Manti, January 24, 2023, about 5:30 pm. Sun Pillars occur when sunlight reflects off of flat ice crystals in the air.

The water year begins on October 1 of every year. From October 1, 2022, Snow College has measured 5.70 inches of heated precipitation (rain and melted snow).  Of that total, 50% of our water (2.85 inches) fell between January 1, 2023 and January 20, 2023!

A high pressure system over the west coast continues to bring cold air down from the north. Yesterday, we got as low as -6*F with a high of 15*F. This morning, due to some cloud cover through the middle of the night, our low was slightly higher at -3*F. Skies are clearing, allowing us to get up to the low 20's, about 24*F this afternoon. We're looking at clearer skies for the next few days, so expect low temperatures in the early mornings (between 7*F and 10*F), and highs in the mid 20's. Friday will get warmer, into the low 30's. -- Michael Olson