After series of storms, here’s what Utah’s snowpack looks like heading into 2025
Jan 1, 2025, 9:30 AM
Hikers step over a snow-covered fallen tree as they traverse Donut Falls Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Nov. 3. Utah's snowpack jumped to over 90% of the median average at the end of 2024. (Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
(Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A series of storms that passed through Utah beginning Christmas morning provided a strong jolt to Utah’s snowpack right before the unofficial halfway point in the snow collection season.
One National Weather Service station near Brighton received over 3½ feet of snow between Christmas Day and Monday morning, while many other sites in the Cottonwood Canyons ended up with at least 2 feet of fresh powder.
While that’s great for snow recreation, the amount of water in the snow is more important to Utah’s water supply. Some sites, including Alta, Ben Lomond Peak and Tony Grove collected at least 5 inches of water from the atmospheric river, nudging the state’s snowpack average closer to normal for New Year’s Day.
Utah’s snowpack jumped from 3.4 inches of snow water equivalent statewide on Dec. 23 to 5.4 inches by New Year’s Eve, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It rose from 69% of the median average to 95% in a little over a week.
“We’ve finally been getting those storms we’ve desperately been needing,” said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.
It dropped back to 92% early New Year’s Day, yet both seven-day forecasts and long-range outlooks offer a positive outlook for the second half of the traditional collection season. However, some regions may continue to benefit more than others this season.
An unofficial halfway point
Utah’s snowpack collection typically begins in late September and early October, which is why every water year begins on Oct. 1 and not on Jan. 1. The statewide collection season — at least over the last three decades — typically ends in early April, which makes New Year’s essentially the middle point in the season.
Utah normally enters the new year with an average of 5.8 inches of snow water equivalent, but the normal is only a medium point between the vigorous ups and downs of Utah weather.
This season’s track has, so far, been eerily similar to last year’s, when the statewide figure entered 2024 at 69% of the median average before a run in January and February propelled the 2023-24 season from below-average to a second-straight above-average season within the first two weeks of March.
Read the full article at ksl.com.
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