The Science Behind Lake Effect Snow weathernationtv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from weathernationtv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tanzi Propst/Park Record
Parkites probably don’t need data to know that the area is in a drought they see closed ski runs, bare hills in Round Valley or the gouges in the bases of their skis from rocks that should be submerged this time of year.
But the numbers reveal just how bad the problem is.
A hot, dry drought started last April and has reached historic levels, said Glen Merrill, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City who also manages the hydrology program.
“90% of the state is in extreme drought and 68% of the state is in exceptional drought, which is the highest drought level,” Merrill said. “… 95% of the time we have more snowpack than we do this year.”
Wind gusts reaching nearly 70 mph in parts of northern Utah led to a two-hour delay of starting times for the Weber School District Tuesday and ripped off shingles and siding from homes.
Women and minorities in weather and climate fields confront harassment, lack of inclusion Kay Nolan A large crowd attended the Women in Science luncheon at the American Meteorological Society meeting in Boston last year. (American Meteorological Society) Last year the Black Lives Matter movement that intensified with the high-profile deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others led to heightened conversations nationwide around institutional discrimination against marginalized groups in workplaces, academia and government. Women and minorities in the earth and atmospheric sciences were already on it. They started their own “Me Too!” movement, pushing for action within the professional scientific societies that are key to giving scientists visibility and career-enhancing opportunities to publish papers, win awards and speak at conferences.