IPEX collects unprecedented data during February

IPEX (Intermountain Precipitation EXperiment) scientists saw several major winter storms during their field research project in northern Utah, including one that produced 3 feet of snow in Little Cottonwood, and a major avalanche that dammed the Provo River. The weather was slow to cooperate at first, but by the end of February scientists had collected data on seven precipitation events, gained the first intensive observations of winter storms in the Teton and Wasatch Mountains, and made detailed observations of the two largest storms in the Wasatch Mountains in the last two winters. They also collected exceptional radar data during a Valentine's Day wind storm, unprecedented measurements of electrification and lightning in winter storms, and the first dual-Doppler radar analysis of a cold front interacting with the Great Salt Lake and surrounding mountains.

The P-3 aircraft flew a total of 41 research hours, two mobile Doppler radars were used for the first time in winter-storm research for 70 total hours of operation, and 305 balloons were launched by the NWS and NSSL Mobile Laboratories. Data collected during IPEX will be used to study terrain-induced precipitation events and interactions that produce lake-effect snowbands.

For more information about IPEX, see http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~schultz/ipex