Utah’s winter will most likely be “typical” this season

SALT LAKE CITY — This year’s winter will most likely not be a repeat of last year’s record-breaking one, according to KSL Meteorologist Matt Johnson.

Johnson said, according to the history books, a season like 2022’s winter had never been seen in Utah before.

“Our snow records go back, I think, 40 to 60 years … depending on the site you’re pulling from,” he said. “Since the record books have begun, [winter 2022 has been] the biggest. So, that’s gonna be very hard to match.”

He expects this winter to be more “typical.”

Weather projections from the fall show that Utah is expected to get average or slightly more than average amounts of precipitation.

However, Johnson said, this doesn’t mean “the fire hose can’t turn on.”

“In fact, the second half of winter does look wetter than the first half,” he said.

The scales tilt to a wetter than normal December in the Pacific Northwest. That’s a pretty easy forecast.

Digging a little deeper, I think we get “spillovers” in Utah through the month and could very well put us above normal…. Let’s hold the hope! #utwx pic.twitter.com/D08lvK5Pqw

— Matthew Johnson (@KSL_Matt) December 4, 2023

But this is typical for a Utah winter.

Despite Utah’s first major storm leaving behind a good amount of snow, Johnson said to keep your expectations in check.

That storm wasn’t necessarily an indication of what’s to come.

Dan Bammes contributed to this story.

Keep reading

• First major storm of the season delivers massive snow totals to Utah’s mountains
• Inversions and pollution: what’s the difference?
• Air quality to deteriorate this week with new temperature inversion
• Utah snowpack below normal, reservoirs above average

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