The desert state of Utah is experiencing “a year to remember” in terms of snowfall, with every single part of the state experiencing 130% more snowpack in the mountains than normal.
The snows have delivered a ski season for the record books, and an end to all drought conditions in the state for the rest of the year.
New records have been made for snowfall. Snow water equivalent was recorded at 28.8 inches averaged out across Utah back in 1953, and officials say that record will be broken this week. The second highest was a 1983 record of 26 inches.
“This has been a year to remember. This is just unbelievable. The snowpack this year has been off the charts, certainly since we put in the SNOTEL system in the early 1980s. We haven’t seen anything like this,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey.
Utah gets approximately 95% of its water from snowpack. Reservoir storage is dependent upon snowpack and runoff to get through the dry years.
April is typically the time when the snows have peaked. The far southwest of Utah, home to Zion National Park, has gotten 3.3 times as much snow as normal, while the east and far southeast has seen 2.8 times as much.
The south arm of the Great Salt Lake, which many conservation news outlets have been reporting is at risk of extinction, has already risen 3 feet.
“The first of the year, we had 56% of the state in the two worst categories of drought — ‘extreme’ and ‘exceptional’,” Laura Haskell, drought coordinator with the Division of Water Resources, told local news.
“We’re completely out of those two worst categories of drought and things just keep improving as the spring goes on and we continue to get more water.”
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Meanwhile, in March, California experienced the twelve Pacific rainstorm of the winter-spring interval, completely alleviating all but the farthest southern tip of the state from a three-year drought which was also labeled ‘extreme’ and ‘exceptional’
Their snowpack is also on track to break records; to be either the first or second-deepest on record going back to 1950.
It will be the first time since 2020 that the state will not be considered in a drought of some severity.
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