Panoramic view of the Great Salt Lake from Promontory Point. Photo courtesy Dan Judd.

The level, salinity, and temperature of the Great Salt Lake respond to regional weather and climate through the interplay of the passage of storms, local evaporation, and the distribution of precipitation throughout the watershed of its closed basin. In turn, the Lake contributes to the development of lake breezes, lake breeze fronts, and lake-effect snowstorms that affect the populace of northern Utah. Faculty in the Department of Meteorology are studying these local weather and climate feedbacks with the Great Salt Lake. An interdisciplinary program has been proposed to improve monitoring and increase research within the Great Salt Lake Basin.

Pat Bagley. Salt Lake Tribune.