Utah A sure way to ruin a vacation is to encounter weather that's not expected. Since it can't be forecast more than a week or so in advance, weather averages serve as much better indicators of what to expect any month. The Wasatch Range runs north-south to the east of Salt Lake City, along Interstate 15, and the Great Salt Lake.
Several canyons stretch from the lake into the mountains.
Melting snow creates streams that run down the canyons and feed the lake. Since the canyons open to the west, they catch the moisture that is left in Pacific storms after they have crossed California's Sierras or the Northwest's Cascades. Cold wind blowing over the warmer water of the Great Salt Lake picks up some moisture, which adds to the snow falling on the mountains. The latitude and longitude above can be used on a U.S. Naval Observatory Web site to find the time of twilight, sunrise, sunset and moon rise and moon set for any location on Earth. Click here for a link to this site.