Steenburgh's Lake-effect diagnostics web page
Watch, Warning, and Advisory Criteria
Utah Area Mesonet (University of Utah)
Salt Lake City National Weather Service Forecast Office
From the above:
Composite analyses showed that well-defined events were associated
with the passage of a mobile upper-level trough and associated cold front
with lake-effect precipitation occurring in the post-frontal westerly,
northwesterly, or northerly flow. 64% of the individual events closely match
this evolution. The remaining cases also feature the intrusion of cold-air
and the development of westerly to northerly flow over northern Utah, but
exhibit varying types of upper-level flow evolution.
Web sites below are very useful for identifying these patterns.
Salt Lake City Snowstorm Climatology (SLC WSFO)
Cedar City, UT Snowstorm Climatology (SLC WSFO)
Logan, UT Snowstorm Climatology (SLC WSFO)
Utah Snowstorm Case Studies (Univ. of Utah)
Carpenter (1993) examined lake-effect snowstorms which affected Salt Lake City. They typically occurred during the spring and fall when 700-mb air and lake temperatures were largest. Usually they occurred in the morning hours suggesting local enhancement by drainage circulations from the surrounding mountains may be playing a role. The exact mechanisms responsible are currently being investigated by the University at Utah and the SLC Weather Service Forecast Office.
Onton and Steenburgh: Abstract on Lake-effect snows and animation of snowbands
Sectorized "Lake" Diverence calculations (Mike Splitt)
Larry Dunn (SOO, SLC WSFO) has written a web document describing snow and freezing drizzle forecasting, among other topics. It also describes specific techniques for diagnosis.
Steenburgh et al., 1999: Climatology of lake-effect snowstorms of the Great Salt Lake. Mon. Wea. Rev. in press.
Carpenter, 1993: The lake effect of the Great Salt Lake: Overview and forecast problems. Wea. Forecasting, 8, 181-193.
Cooper et al., 1994: "Big versus super" snowfall events at Salt Lake City, UT: A composite comparison. Western Region Tech. Attach. No. 94-37.
Ciliberti et al., 1999: An analysis of a cold frontal passage over complex terrain in northwest Utah.
Dunn, 1983: Quantitative and spatial distribution of winter precipitation along Utah's Wasatch Front. NOAA Tech. Memo. NWS WR-181.
Horel and Gibson, 1994: Analysis and simulation of a winter storm over Utah. Wea. Forecasting, 9, 479-494.
Long et al., 1990: Investigations of a winter mountain storm in Utah. Part I: Synoptic analyses, mesoscale kinematics, and water release rates. J. Atmos. Sci., 47, 1302-1322.
Sassen et al., 1990: Investigations of a winter mountain storm in Utah. Part II: Mesoscale structure, supercooled liquid water development, and precipitation processes. J. Atmos. Sci., 47, 1323-1350.