Utah is no longer in a severe drought

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in nearly four years, Utah is no longer under severe drought conditions.

“Right now, there’s only about 20% of the state in moderate drought and the rest of the state is either in abnormally dry, so just a little dry, or no drought conditions at all,” says Christine Kruse, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.

Kruse said it’s due to the record-breaking snowpack the state received this year.

“That really helped to increase our soil moistures, to increase our reservoir levels, and that really took care of a lot of the drought we were seeing.”

Depending on the conditions in June and July, Kruse says this could be a year where we see no drought conditions across the state.

“If we go into a very hot and very dry summer, that would be where we would really see drought conditions increase again,” explained Kruse. 

She said that’s why it’s still important to listen to local officials on how to continue conserving water this year.

Kruse also reminds citizens to stay away from fast and high-flowing rivers and streams because it only takes a few minutes to get swept away.