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Weber County snowfall, no drought-buster, measured around 7 inches

By Tim Vandenack - | Dec 16, 2021

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

A look at the snowfall in Ogden from Harrison Boulevard on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021.

OGDEN — The snowfall across Weber County may have broken your back as you shoveled your driveway.

Moreover, it was enough, apparently, to allow two of Weber County’s ski resorts to announce the launch of operations for the season.

But the precipitation through Wednesday wasn’t enough to break the ongoing drought.

Accumulations around Weber County through Wednesday afternoon, when the system started to taper, ranged from 6.3 inches to 7.2 inches, according to National Weather Service data. Snow in Ogden started to fall Thursday afternoon and less than an inch of the white stuff was expected into Thursday evening.

“Every little bit counts. I think that’s the main story here,” said Sam Webber, an NWS meteorologist.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

A tree in Ogden is filled with snow from the recent snowfall Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.

Indeed, the new snow prodded Nordic Valley, the Eden-area ski resort, to launch operations for the season on Wednesday. “We just got six inches of fresh snow!! Our mountain operations team has been working hard to get the mountain ready for us and we are just as stoked to get on the mountain as you are,” the resort said in an email blast Wednesday morning.

Similarly, Powder Mountain, also based in Weber County, announced on its website that it would be launching operations on Friday. Snowbasin, the other ski resort in the county, opened for skiing last Saturday.

That said, it’ll take more precipitation to crawl out of the drought that continues to impact the state, though it’s still early in the winter season. All of Weber County and 78.7% of Utah remain in “extreme drought” conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System, part of the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On the bright side, Webber said the La Niña weather pattern seems to be holding sway. When La Niña conditions prevail, he said, Utah has typically experienced above-average winter precipitation, though there’s no guarantee that will be the case this season.

On the not-so-bright side, though, he said snowpack across Utah currently sits at 18% of the median registered for this time of the year. “Ideally, we’d be right at the median. We’ve got a long way to go,” he said.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

A tree in Ogden is filled with snow from the recent snowfall Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021.

Snowpack accumulation over the winter typically accounts for the vast majority of water entering the reservoirs that serve Utah communities. One or two big storm systems, he said, could put precipitation projections on a more positive trajectory.

Looking forward over the next few days, Webber expects dry conditions, though some precipitation could come in time for Christmas.

As for the storm system between Tuesday and Wednesday, NWS figures show accumulations of up to 15 inches in the Salt Lake Valley and Salt Lake City environs. In Davis County, accumulations ranged from 8 inches in Clearfield to 14 inches in parts of Bountiful.

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