Utah snowfall will be unusually heavy through the end of the year, but precipitation will fall below normal in most parts of the state during the first quarter of 1989, according to the Rocky Mountain Almanac.
The weather-related publication, published in Denver, says the jet stream will dip from the Idaho-Montana border to the Four Corners area, triggering very heavy snow in northwest Utah during November."However, the southwest will have 50 percent below normal moisture. We also expect abnormally heavy snow the first two weeks in December (producing) up to double normal snowfall," says editor Lee Olson.
The publication says Alta can anticipate 64 inches of snow in November and 138 inches in December. Progressively less - between 10 and 50 percent of normal - precipitation is expected during the remainder of the winter through March, according to the almanac.
However, William J. Alder, meteorologist in charge of the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service, said Monday his Utah forecast for the next 90 days calls for below-normal precipitation and near-normal temperatures.
Alder said the weather pattern is often persistent in the fall. When storminess or dry and mild conditions develop they tend to be persistent for the majority of the fall season. But there's usually a readjustment during the first or second week of December. That tends to be the rule, although there are sometimes minor variations of the pattern.