Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth lecture given by Jim Steenburgh

Park City Museum will host a lecture called Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth given by Jim Steenburgh on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 from 5-6 p.m. held at the Park City Museum Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. More information can be found at www.parkcityhistory.org.

Utah has long claimed to have the Greatest Snow on Earth—the state itself has even trademarked the phrase. In this talk, University of Utah Atmospheric Sciences Professor Jim Steenburgh (a.k.a. “Professor Powder”) provides an insider’s view of Wasatch weather, exposing the myths, explaining the reality, and revealing how and why Utah’s powder lives up to its reputation. Drawing on material from his book, Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth, now in its second edition, Steenburgh also provides a meteorological guide to mountain weather and snow climates around the world, a deep dive into the remarkable avalanche history of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and a look at the fate of skiing in a warming world.

Jim Steenburgh is a professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah with teaching and research interests spanning mountain weather and climate, winter storms, and weather analysis and forecasting. He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a recipient of the University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award. He led the development of numerical and statistical forecast systems for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Innsbruck in 2019. Known as “Professor Powder” on the social media platform X, Steenburgh’s passions for meteorology, snow, and skiing are abundantly evident in his book Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth, now in its 2nd Edition, and his popular blog Wasatch Weather Weenies, which has attracted more than 5 million page views from snow and mountain weather enthusiasts.