Snow continued to pile up in Utah on Wednesday morning, but most winter weary residents are about to get a break.
“The end of the 5 day storm is almost here!” the National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office announced on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
A winter storm warning originally slated to end at 6 p.m. Tuesday was extended through 9 a.m. Wednesday for much of northern Utah. In the Wasatch Mountains specifically, the warning was extended through 6 p.m. Wednesday.
While the latest snow may seem like a boon for Utah ski resorts, the snowfall forced temporary shutdowns at both Brighton and Solitude on Wednesday, because roads through Big Cottonwood Canyon were shut down to clear snow amid avalanche control work. Little Cottonwood Canyon was also closed because of snow.
Avalanche danger remains “high” in the mountains near Salt Lake City, Logan, Ogden, Provo and in the Uintas, “considerable” in the Skyline area, and “moderate” in the Moab area, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.
Snow totals
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Snow blankets Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
As the storm began winding down and Utahns shovel out, some of the snow totals for the past few days have been significant — particularly because this storm hit in April.
Here’s how much snow fell from 6 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to the weather service:
Snowbird • 67 inches.
Alta • 63 inches.
Canyon Village at Park City • 49 inches.
Powder Mountain • 38 inches.
Snowbasin • 36 inches.
Sandy • 28.6 inches.
Big Cottonwood Spruces • 27 inches.
Solitude • 26 inches.
Logan • 25 inches.
Laketown • 24.6 inches.
Randolph • 23.5 inches.
Park City Mountain • 23 inches.
Summit Park • 22.5 inches.
Sugar House • 21.9 inches.
North Salt Lake • 21.1 inches.
Bountiful bench • 20.4 inches.
Mantua • 19.7 inches.
West Jordan bench • 19.4 inches.
Fort Union • 18.2 inches.
Hyrum • 18 inches.
Ogden bench • 17.4 inches.
Salt Lake City • 16.5 inches.
Providence • 15.7 inches.
West Jordan • 15.5 inches.
Bountiful • 15 inches.
Kearns • 15 inches.
Magna • 15 inches.
Sundance • 15 inches.
Salt Lake International Airport • 14.8 inches.
Taylorsville • 14 inches.
North Ogden • 13 inches.
Wellsville • 12.7 inches.
Spanish Fork • 12.5 inches.
Heber City • 12 inches.
Nephi • 11.5 inches.
Springville • 11.5 inches.
Murray • 11.2 inches.
South Jordan • 11 inches.
Cedar City • 10.8 inches.
Fruit Heights • 10.8 inches.
Holladay • 10.5 inches.
South Weber • 10.4 inches.
West Valley City • 10 inches.
Records broken
According to the National Weather Service, Utah set a record for snow water equivalency for the 2023 water year, hitting 29.4 inches on Tuesday. That surpassed the record of 28.8 inches set in 1952.
The Salt Lake City International Airport had 9 inches of snow on the ground on Wednesday, its highest snow depth ever for the month of April, according to records that date back to 1928.
On Tuesday, Salt Lake City set a record for the coldest high temperature ever recorded on any given April 4. Thermometers topped out at 33 degrees — 27 degrees below normal for the date. The previous record for the date was a high of 37 in 1918.
The National Weather Service forecasts that temperatures will rise over the next few days, reaching normal highs for this time of year by the beginning of next week.
In the Salt Lake City area, it’s expected to be in the low to mid-30s on Wednesday; the upper 30s to about 40 on Thursday; the upper 40s on Friday; the low to mid-50s on Saturday; the mid- to upper 50s on Sunday; and the low 60s on Monday and Tuesday.
