This February was the 5th-wettest on record for Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy leap year, Utah! As we reflect on the month we’ve seen quite the weather roller coaster, from several atmospheric river events to massive temperature fluctuations.
Salt Lake City saw precipitation at least twice a week every week, 18 out of the 29 days had some sort of measurable precipitation. The average total precipitation for February was 1.36 inches, but this month we ended with an impressive 3.37 inches of precipitation. That makes this month the 5th wettest February on record for Salt Lake.
Above average warmth and increasing winds for Thursday; wet weather looming
While we did see ample precipitation, we got a surprisingly small amount of snow. That’s all thanks to this month’s unseasonably warm weather. The average temperature for the month is 35.7 degrees, but so far this month it was 40.8 degrees, making this the 8th warmest February on record. We have one more day before the end of the month, so the final number may be slightly different, but it will likely hold its 8th warmest title.
Warm temperatures are responsible for all the valley rain and mountain snow systems we’ve seen. Only 1/3 of the storm days resulted in snow, out of the 18 days Salt Lake saw precipitation, only six yielded any measurable snowfall. The most snow from a single storm was 2.4 inches from only a few days ago. Monthly totals came out to a modest 4.6 inches, whereas the average is 11.2 inches of snow.
While valleys may have been left out of the snow party, the mountains definitely took advantage of the moisture. Resorts reported seeing roughly 70-100 inches over the month, while resorts in the Salt Lake region averaged 147 inches of new powder. Snowpack for the whole state is currently at 117%, meaning we are 17% above average for this time of year.
With how dynamic this month has been, it’s not far-fetched to expect records to be broken. The storm that swept through from the Feb. 6 to Feb. 8 brought the bulk of the records, but there were plenty more. Given over half our days were marked with rain and snow, it’s no surprise that most of the records broken involved precipitation.
Salt Lake City’s 3.7 inches of precipitation makes this the 5th wettest February. Meanwhile, Logan had their 2nd wettest February ever with 3.78 inches, only beaten by its 2017 record of 4.29 inches. Logan and Alta Ski Area both saw their 6th snowiest February, with Logan measuring 15.5 inches and Alta measuring a whopping 128.8 inches of snow.
Daily records were broken as well, below are the new daily records set for this month separated by date:
Feb. 2
- Salt Lake City Int’l Airport: 1.08″ of precip – old record: 0.89″ (1936)
- Capitol Reef National Park: 0.51″ of precip – old record: 0.41″ (1955)
- St. George: 0.70″ of precip – old record: 0.62″ (1960)
Feb. 6
- Kodachrome Basin SP: 0.18″ of rain – old record: 0.04″ (2010)
- Deer Creek Dam: 0.55″ of rain – old record: 0.37″ (1978)
Feb. 7
- Salt Lake City Int’l Airport: 0.79″ of precip – old record: 0.45″ (1918)
- Downtown Salt Lake City: 0.78″ of precip – old record: 0.19″ (1998)
- Bryce Canyon: 1.0″ of precip – old record: 0.78″ (2010)
- BYU – Provo: 0.80″ of precip – tied record: 0.80″ (1925)
- City Creek Water Plant: 1.55″ of precip – old record: 1.50″ (1950)
- Bryce Canyon: 15.5″ of snow – old record: 6.0″ (1998)
Feb. 8
- Kodachrome Basin SP: 4.8″ of snow – old record: 2.0″ (2009)
- Levan: 7.7″ of snow – old record: 6.0″ (1893)
- Levan: 0.86″ of precip – old record: 0.70″ (1893)
Feb. 19
- Downtown Salt Lake City: 61° high temperature – old record: 60° (2015)
Feb. 21
- Logan: 3.1″ of snow – old record: 2.0″ (2016)
- Randolph: 8.0″ of snow – old record: 6.0″ (1984)
What an eventful February! We’re excited to see how March shakes out!
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