OGDEN -- While Wednesday's storm brought inches of snow to the mountains, resort officials say it's still too early to start waxing snowboards and skis.
"Generally the snowfall at this time will end up melting," said Carolyn Daniels, public relations for Powder Mountain. "Then we have a later snowfall that will be the start of the base for the season."
By 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Powder Mountain had 5 inches of snow piled up, but September snowfall is not uncommon for the resort.
"This is very typical," Daniels said. "It's really not a predictor of the ski season."
Snowbasin reported a break in the snow around noon Wednesday, with 2 to 3 inches accumulated at the base of the resort. General Manager Kent Lyons said the snowfall was a little early compared to years past.
"It's somewhat unusual, but we don't plan on snow this early sticking for the season," he said.
While the snow won't stick around for skiers, Lyons said it will still help to improve the season by keeping the soil on the mountain moist.
"If the mountain is dry, when the snow that will last comes, it tends to suck the moisture of out the snow," he said. "We prefer (the mountains) to have some moisture in them."
Both resorts plan to open around Thanksgiving. Daniels said Powder Mountain will be ready to operate by then but without having a snow-making system, opening day will completely depend on the weather. Lyons said Snowbasin plans to fire up its snow-making system around the first of November so the slopes will be ready come Thanksgiving Day.
Although the valley received rain most of the day, National Weather Service Utah reports the collected rainfall was fairly minimal. Farmington, Fruit Heights and South Ogden all had accumulated 0.81 inches by 1 p.m., Bountiful had 0.8 inches, Layton received 0.76 inches and Ogden received 0.53 inches of rainfall.
NWS meteorologist Eric Schoening said the storm system will have passed by this morning, but another system is expected to be coming from the north this weekend.
"It looks like right now the best chance for precipitation is going to be Sunday," he said. "But it won't be quite as cold as this storm."
While the temperatures will be warmer, Schoening said there still may be more snow in store for the mountains.
"We could get some snow levels down to maybe about 6,000 feet or so," he said.
"It's another bout of colder, wetter weather for the weekend into the beginning of next week."
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