Over the past week, we were reminded what a true Utah winter is likev—vover two feet of fresh snow with cold temperatures to keep the snow fluffy. We were treated to multiple consecutive powder days in the Wasatch. It was easily the best week of skiing I have had all winter. I hope you were a ble to get out there and enjoy the feast.  The theme from early in the season was warm storms, high snow levels, and dense snow. We are returning to that meteorological motif with a storm that arrives Tuesday this week and continues through Wednesday. This system is pulling ample subtropical moisture from the Pacific, with little in the way of cold arctic air to combat its mild origins. As such, snow levels will rise to near 9,000 feet in the northern Utah mountains on Tuesday afternoon and remain elevated through Tuesday night, only falling marginally to near 8,000 feet on Wednesday, once most of the precipitation has waned.  It might only be the highest peaks of the Park City ridgeline that are spared the rain deluge.  Credit: Chart courtesy of OpenSnow.com This means that dreaded R-word is back. Rain. Rain for the base elevations. Rain possible at midmountain. It might only be the highest peaks of the Park City ridgeline that are spared the deluge.  Despite ample precipitation amounts of up to 1.5 inches … Snow amounts we will get will be quite low, with only a few dense inches way up high. Credit: Chart courtesy of OpenSnow.com …the actual snow amounts we will get will be quite low, with only a few dense inches way up high. If you do plan to ski on Wednesday, I would highly recommend waterproof gear and trying to get as high in elevation as possible in order to have the best chance of scoring actual fresh snow on the ground. Credit: Chart courtesy of OpenSnow.com This large disparity between the upper elevations and the lower elevations of the mountains is evident when we look at the OpenSnow Forecast Snowfall maps in 3D.  This large disparity between the upper elevations and the lower elevations of the mountains is evident when we look at the OpenSnow Forecast Snowfall maps in 3D.  Credit: Map courtesy of OpenSnow.com Virtually no snow for the lower mountain, with perhaps 4 to 8 inches on the peaks. When we zoom in on Main Street in Park City, we can see that accumulating snow is unlikely during this storm. Up at Jupiter Peak, however, we could get some halfway decent accumulation.  The good news is that even if we see rain at lower elevations, the fresh snow from last week will easily absorb most of the water. Credit: Map courtesy of OpenSnow.com The good news is that even if we see rain at lower elevations, the fresh snow from last week will easily absorb most of the water. Snowpacks are incredibly efficient at absorbing large amounts of water on top of snow before they get fully saturated. This means that even rain events can help to boost the snowpack as existing snow acts as a sponge to further increase the water content of the snow.  If you do plan to ski on Wednesday, I would highly recommend waterproof gear and trying to get as high in elevation as possible in order to have the best chance of scoring actual fresh snow on the ground. If you can manage to get up there in elevation, the conditions may be good with several inches of creamy, dense snow.  We are going to clear out with dry weather Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, a weak system will approach Utah and may bring additional showers with high-elevation snow early next week. At this point, this does not look like a big snow producer.  For up-to-date forecasts, you can subscribe to Evan’s Utah Daily Snow forecast on OpenSnow.com and the OpenSnow app.  The post The Outlook: The feast ends for the moment as rain returns to forecast appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less