Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Observational And Synoptic Analyses Of The Winter Precipitation Regime Change Over Utah, Robert R. Gillies, Shih-Yu Wang, Marty R. Booth

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Previous studies have indicated a widespread decline in snowpack over Utah accompanied by a decline in the snow–precipitation ratio while anecdotal evidence claims have been put forward that measured changes in Utah’s snowpack are spurious and do not reflect actual change. Using two distinct lines of investigation, this paper further analyzes the winter precipitation regime in the state of Utah. First, by means of observation-based, gridded daily temperature, precipitation, and remotely sensed data, as well as utilizing a climatological rain–snow threshold (RST) temperature method, the precipitation regime of Utah was scrutinized. Second, a comprehensive synoptic analysis was conducted as an …