A motorist drives down a plowed road after a snow storm in Cottonwood Heights on Wednesday. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
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SALT LAKE CITY – The latest snow storm delivered exactly what Utah desperately needed in most of the state.
While the state is trying to escape an extreme drought, that storm has severely charged our water resources.
A hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service said that this snow contains more water than what would normally arrive in Utah.
It was a heavy, wet blizzard with a lot of water in it. If you shoveled yesterday you know this: it was a backbreaker.
“That was a shot in the arm. That was a big storm for us,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. “We can definitely use all of the snowwater equivalent in snowpack that we can get.”
It’s not exactly the best snow in the world for skiing that our state usually brags about, but that snow was definitely what Utah needed for snow cover, water resources, and also for building a base at the resorts.
According to Clayton, the snow water equivalent in this storm is equal to the nationwide utility of last week’s storm, roughly an inch of water equivalent.
“That brings us about 0.8 or 0.9 inches below what we need to compare to normal for this time of year,” Clayton said.
He said most of the storms in Utah have a density of around 5 to 8%, and this storm is even more dense. This water is critical in raising the level in Utah’s reservoirs, which is about 50% nationwide.
“It’s the water equivalent in the snowpack that helps us replenish the reservoirs when all the snow melts in the spring,” Clayton said. “So if we don’t have enough water equivalent in our snowpack or we don’t get enough storms, then there just isn’t enough up there in our mountains, in our storage, if you will, to deliver the water later.”
As with any storm, some areas had much more water than others.
“The southwest corner of the state did brilliantly in this storm,” Clayton said.
The plateau above Cedar City now has more than 2 1/2 inches of water equivalent and 20 inches of snow.
“Other areas of the state are still suffering,” said the hydrologist. “Especially the Weber / Ogden area is still well below the normal snow water equivalent for this time of the year.”
Another storm like this one would bring the state back to average rainfall for the year. Utah has to keep storming or it will fall further behind in the drought.
Another storm is forecast to adorn Utah with measurable snowfalls on Thursday and Friday.
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