SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 10, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah’s dry January hasn’t done much to build our snowbank reserves in the mountains.
A report released Thursday by the Department of Natural Resources say that 95% of Utah’s water currently is coming from snowpack reserves. Utah still has 54 days until the snowpack typically peaks.
“The rollercoaster ride continues,” said Brian Steed, executive director of the Department of Natural Resources.
“Dry weather isn’t what we want. We need consistent snowstorms. These next two months will really determine what kind of spring runoff we will have.”
Here are the report highlights:
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33.64% of Utah is in extreme drought, 93.77% of the state is in severe drought.
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Statewide snow water equivalent (SWE), or how much water would be in the snowpack if it melted, is 9 inches. This is 89% of median for this time of year and 57% of median peak, which usually occurs around the first of April.
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Thirty-two of Utah’s largest 45 reservoirs are below 55% of available capacity. Overall statewide storage is 53.6% of capacity. This time last year, reservoirs were about 64% of capacity.
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Soil moisture is nearly 9% above median for this time of year, which is much better than last year. Wet soils are critical to have effective spring runoff.
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Of the 63 measured streams, 39 are flowing below normal. Less gauges are measuring streamflow because of ice in the streams.
See the full, eight-page report below:
Drought_Update_02_10_22
