Utah’s Weather

By Ashley Gray

Utah is notorious for it’s crazy weather. It could be 75 degrees one

day and a blizzard the next. You really just never know what you’re

going to get living here. I’m going to talk about some of the things that are unique about our weather as

well as our changing climate.

Utah’s Weather is Influenced by Mountains, Near AND Far

Our mountains help to lift invisible rivers of air and wring out moisture from the sky. Far away mountain ranges to our north and west often grab their share of the moisture, creating our desert climates. But when big Pacific storms

manage to break through, we can get drenched. Also, the Rockies to the east, shield

us from the bitter cold in the center of the country

What is an Inversion?

Sometime, usually in January, you can count on Utah having an inversion. Don’t know what that is? Well

normally air closer to the ground is warmer than air higher up. But in winter, high air pressure systems

create inversions that trap cold air near the ground. When that happens, pollution in the air gets

trapped too. Since the surrounding mountains block out winds that could blow pollutants away,

layers of smog can cover the valley for days.

What is the “Lake Effect?”

We owe the “greatest snow on Earth” to the Great Salt Lake. Since the lake remains ice free

during the winter, cold air flowing over its warmer surface gets a boost upwards. This

extra lift from the lake, combined with rising air currents over the Wasatch, leads to lots of fresh

powder in the mountains. The next slide is a picture I took at the Natural History Museum

demonstrating how the lake effect works.

When it Rains, it Pours

As mentioned before, we are known for upside down weather. On the next slides you will see two separate graphs, each taken by me from

the Natural History Museum, showing you some of our annual precipitation and

temperature rates.

What Secrets Does Snow Contain?Climate change takes place over hundreds of thousands of years. It was

started by small adjustments in the Earth’s orbit and amplified by release and re-absorption of greenhouse gases as well as retreat and

advance of continental ice sheets. The graph you’ll see on the next slide, which is from a picture I took at the Natural History Museum was generated from data contained in the Vostok core, one of the

longest ever drilled. Ice Cores are samples taken from deep accumulations of ice and snow over many years. They contain

extensive climate information, because of material trapped in the snow each year. Wind blown dust, ash and bubbles of atmospheric gas can provide scientists with information about temperature and precipitation changes, ocean volume, carbon and other gas levels,

etc. The depth of the core determines the length of the record.

Global Warming in Utah

Observations of weather fluctuations over the past century show a rising trend in temperature around

the world, and Utah is no exception. Scientists expect this trend to continue as greenhouse gases

in the atmosphere build up from the burning of fossil fuels and forests all around the world. Rising temperatures in Utah will most likely lead to more

rain than snow and other changes that could seriously affect water resources.

Climate Change in Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City’s climate has been steadily warming since 1880, partly because of natural factors and largely

because of human activity. You will notice the irregular dip in temperature in the graph on the next slide. This

was caused by harmful emissions of coal-plant soot and sulfate aerosols being released into the atmosphere, in turn blocking the sun and cooling the Earth. Thankfully, in the mid 1970’s regulations required coal-fired power plants to remove those elements from their emissions.

Since they have been banned, temperatures have increased significantly.

What Could Globally Warming Mean for Utah?

Climate change could increase the duration and intensity of droughts, transforming lakes,

rivers and wetlands into dry areas of sand and dirt, in turning altering our regions plant life

I really enjoyed learning all about our weather and climate when I visited The Natural History

Museum. I also learned the importance of protecting our resources because even though global warming is affected by natural causes, us

humans play a big part in it as well. If we want to continue to enjoy this state and all that it has to

offer, we need to protect it.

Sources

All of my information and pictures were collected from the Natural History Museum at

the University of UtahI apologize some of the pictures were not as

clear as I would have liked