SALT LAKE CITY — The storm that has caused havoc throughout Utah is one of the biggest ever. But while it was a big one, it did not break any records in the Salt Lake area.
Based on 2-day totals, the 16.9 inches of snow measured at the airport makes it the second-snowiest February storm in Salt Lake City history and the ninth largest in any month in history.
While not a record, there are some things that stand out.
Snow days were extraordinarily rare before the pandemic, but a Salt Lake Tribune report showed that Salt Lake area school districts had a snow day in 2019, the first in 20 to 30 years.
Anyone who grew up in Utah or other snowy states in previous generations know a snow day meant arranging an extra day of classes later in the year, so they seldom happened. Now that online learning days are so simple, snow days don't infringe on summer vacation plans.
Below are some of the snow totals in the Salt Lake and Tooele areas:
- West Jordan - 18 inches
- Stansbury - 18 inches
- SLC Int'l Airport - 17 inches
- Cottonwood Heights - 15 inches
- Riverton - 14 inches
- Salt Lake City - 14 inches
- Draper - 13 inches
- Taylorsville - 13 inches
The one day numbers for Salt Lake City itself are good with 5.8 inches on Tuesday. But the city saw more just two years ago on February 17, 2021.
The all-time one day Salt Lake City record of 14 inches was set in November of 1908.
Water-wise, it's more important to zoom out to the big picture.
In this current water year, December was the star with 22 1/2 inches, more than doubling January and February as of Tuesday. December gave the state a huge head start, making an unimpressive January just fine and readings are already ahead of the average February.
But as monthly records go, numbers are nowhere near record totals for any winter month.
Which is ok. Don't have to set a record for a good year. Here we are in terms of mountain snowpack.
Way ahead of normal and if mountain temperatures stay we likely stay that way.
