First major Pacific trough

[bob rulz]

The first major Pacific trough of the season is moving into the Pacific Northwest and will bring significantly cooler temperatures to the western U.S. Snow should start falling in the Cascades soon and over the next few days most of the mountains down into northern Utah and northern Colorado should see snow, in some places significant. Some lower elevations could even see snow from this. It's a pretty significant storm for early September.

As for here, high temperatures are forecast from the mid-50s to mid-60s over the weekend with overnight lows in the mid-30s. Moderate rainfall is expected, and if some of the overnight storms become strong enough, we may even see snow on the benches (about 5,000 feet) Sunday morning!

[bob rulz]

The first winter weather advisories have been issued for the eastern Montana mountains the northern Cascades of Oregon, and freeze warnings are in effect for parts of interior Oregon and northeastern California.

Anybody else feeling the effects of this? Rain is starting to move in here, but the cold weather hasn't arrived yet.

[azsnowman]

Yes indeed Bob.....ain't it GRrrrreat it SURE sounds like we in the west (southwest I should say) are in for COLD, WEEEEEEET winter

Now...check THIS out!

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/fgz

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION

FXUS65 KFGZ 142133 AFDFGZ AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FLAGSTAFF AZ 230 PM MST THU SEP 14 2006 .SYNOPSIS...A LARGE BAND OF WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY. THIS BAND EXTENDS FROM THE KAIBAB PLATEAU TO CHINO VALLEY AND IS SLOWLY MOVING EAST. EXPECT CONTINUED THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT NORTHERN ARIZONA THIS EVENING WITH STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS INCREASING THROUGH FRIDAY. FOR THE WEEKEND...EXPECT CLEAR SKIES COOL NIGHTS AND LIGHT WINDS. && .DISCUSSION...A STRONG MOISTURE SURGE HAS MOVED INTO ARIZONA FROM THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA. THIS ADDITIONAL MOISTURE ALONG WITH AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS HAS INCREASED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. EXPECT THESE STORMS TO CONTINUE OVER MUCH OF NORTHERN ARIZONA THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. A FRONTAL SYSTEM CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA WILL INCREASE THE WINDS THROUGH FRIDAY. BY FRIDAY MORNING THE STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL SWEEP THE MOISTURE OUT TO THE NORTHEAST LEAVING US WITH JUST A FEW LINGERING CLOUDS. ALTHOUGH THE NORTHEASTERN FORECAST ZONES...BLACK MESA AND CHINLE AREAS...WILL HAVE A SLIGHT CHANCE PRECIPITATION THROUGH FRIDAY. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR FRIDAY BETWEEN 10 AM AND 6 PM MST FOR SOUTHWEST WIND GUSTS AROUND 45 MPH. THE AREAS AFFECTED INCLUDE THE NORTHWESTERN FORECAST ZONES FROM THE KAIBAB PLATEAU TO NORTHERN YAVAPAI COUNTY...ALONG THE MOGOLLON RIM TO SHOW LOW AND OVER THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY. REFER TO PRODUCT PHXNPWFGZ FOR MORE DETAILS. SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...COOL AND CLEAR FALL CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. BY SUNDAY MORNING LOW TEMPERATURES WILL DROP DOWN INTO THE LOW TO MID 30S FOR MOST LOCATIONS ABOVE 6000 FT.

[azsnowman]

The first winter weather advisories have been issued for the eastern Montana mountains the northern Cascades of Oregon, and freeze warnings are in effect for parts of interior Oregon and northeastern California.

Anybody else feeling the effects of this? Rain is starting to move in here, but the cold weather hasn't arrived yet.

The winds supposed to REALLY kick up tomorrow sometime into Saturday...and COOL temps are on tap!

[bob rulz]

[quote=azsnowman]Yes indeed Bob.....ain't it GRrrrreat it SURE sounds like we in the west (southwest I should say) are in for COLD, WEEEEEEET winter.[/quote]

Yes, it is great. I'm loving it already! There's been pretty steady rain for most of the day and it's supposed to continue like this through Sunday morning.

This is the special weather statement issued from NWS Salt Lake City this morning:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=slc&sid=slc&pil=sps

...MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND...

AN UNSEASONABLY COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL IMPACT MUCH OF THE REGION OVER THE UPCOMING WEEKEND.

OUT AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...STRONG WINDS WILL BE FELT ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN UTAH. SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL OCCUR THROUGH THIS EVENING. ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH...WINDS WILL BE A BIT STRONGER ON FRIDAY AND MAY REQUIRE AN ADVISORY.

A WEAK SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL UTAH TODAY WILL SPARK SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN. MUCH COLDER AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO REACH NORTHERN UTAH LATE IN THE DAY ON FRIDAY...THEN PUSH SOUTH THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE STATE SATURDAY. AS THIS FRONT PASSES...MUCH COOLER AIR WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION AND REMAIN THROUGH THE WEEKEND. TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEEKEND ARE FORECAST TO BE 15 TO 25 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH...WITH HIGHS STRUGGLING TO REACH THE LOWER 60S ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH ARE FORECAST TO BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL DURING THIS TIME. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP TO NEAR 7000 FT BY SATURDAY MORNING...ALTHOUGH THE WASATCH FRONT BENCHES MAY SEE A RAIN/SNOW MIX DURING PERIODS OF HEAVIER PRECIPITATION.

AS THIS STORM SYSTEM DEPARTS SATURDAY EVENING AND SKIES CLEAR... TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE 30S ACROSS THE CACHE VALLEY...WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS...AND PERHAPS EVEN SHELTERED AREAS ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT. THIS MAY RESULT IN THE FIRST FROST OF THE SEASON ACROSS THESE AREAS.

[bob rulz]

Snow advisories are in effect for the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains now...only 2-6 inches is expected, though, although we could have lake-effect slightly increase those totals tomorrow if everything sets up right. Temperature forecasts are a little bit warmer than before, though. Still, we've seen some pretty good rain and some thunderstorms. I'm currently under a severe thunderstorm watch (which is rare for Utah). It's also been very windy at times, and the cold front should move through soon.

[bob rulz]

Since Thursday night we've received 1.17 inches of precipitation at Salt Lake International Airport, with .85 of an inch of this falling in the last 10 hours. I'm loving all this rain! It's actually gotten down to a frigid (comparatively) 42 degrees, and once these clouds clear out I suspect it could get pretty cold. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the mountains for 6-10 inches, and also the Wasatch Mountain Valleys for 2-6 inches.

[bob rulz]

Salt Lake City received a phenomenal 1.39 inches of rain from this storm, including a record .78 of an inch yesterday. The highest snow total I can find in the nearby mountains is 8 inches; not bad for this time of year. Up to an inch of snow actually fell on the benches, and even some valley locations saw very minor snow accumulations (less than half-an-inch). In addition, the temperature reached an absolutely WHOPPING 52 degrees today, and a freeze warning is in effect for tonight for almost all of the valleys of northern and central Utah.