2021

A study led by researchers at the University of Utah outlined new ways to prepare for wildfire evacuations, especially in dire situations where there isn’t much time to get out.

The tallest mountains in the world make for unique challenges in weather forecasting. A team led by Summer Rupper of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City has addressed one of these challenges by developing a model that differentiates between ice and snow that were deposited on the region during the monsoon season and those that came from winter storms, so that scientists can study where and when snow is likely to fall throughout the year.

The first automated dust-on-snow monitoring technology in the mountains of Northwest Colorado is expected to be installed this fall to study the impact of dust from arid landscapes on downwind mountain ecosystems in the state and in Utah.

The ugly brown snow that fell over much of Utah got everybody’s cars dirty. But it can also have an impact on spring runoff from the Wasatch Mountains. McKenzie Skiles studies the effects of windblown dust and air pollution on winter snowfall. Dust and soot make the snow darker, so it absorbs more sunlight and melts faster, she explained.