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The storm is upon us as foretold and skiers/riders today will necessarily assume the color of the storm and the landscape upon which they travel.
Frontal passage occurred around midnight with a dramatic drop in temperatures and a wind shift to the northwest. As of 5am, snow totals are roughly 4-8" (up to 0.65" SWE), slightly favoring upper LCC. Mountain temperatures are in the low teens up high, the low 20s down low. The searing southwesterly winds, mercifully, are a thing of the past, having lost steam after veering to the northwest. They're averaging 10-15mph with gusts to 20. Along the highest ridgelines, they're seeing hourly averages of 25-30mph with gusts to 35.
Today: It should snow for most of the day and into the early evening with some lake-effect kicking in. I imagine we'll see 12-18" or more by dinner time. Temperatures will drop toward the low single digits to low teens. The spoiler: I'm seeing moderate to occasionally strong west to northwest winds along the ridgelines today. I hope I'm wrong, but it might be worth planning your outing today for wind sheltered terrain. Let me know how it goes.
The Outlook: some clearing for Wednesday with some unsettled weather for Thursday and perhaps Saturday.
Backcountry observers reported a couple new (likely natural cornice-fall induced) wind slab avalanches in Jaws of upper Days Fork and the Wolverine Cirque (Quigley photo below). Despite these new releases, ski areas and observers reported conditions to be less active and more stubborn than the day before.
Broads Fork also shed some full depth glide releases on the steep quartzite slabs of Bonkers and the Diving Board. Check out all recent avalanches and observations
HERE.
It's not in our forecast zone, per se, but many Wasatch skiers and riders head to the Ruby Range just south of Elko, Nevada. Often the prize they're seeking is the Terminal Cancer couloir in Lamoille Canyon. Some local skiers had a very close call on Sunday and sent us an excellent write-up that offers some good takeaways.
Recommended reading. 
