Where is Our Snow?

Snow covered mountains on Antelope Island – Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 200, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm at 18mm, natural light

It is wintertime here in the Salt Lake Valley of northern Utah but given the lack of snow if it weren’t for the cold temps you might not know that.

Usually by January we have had a couple of feet of snow fall on the valley floor over the first part of winter. That hasn’t been the case at all so far for the winter of 2020 – 2021. At most I believe we have had about one inch total all winter long where I live in Salt Lake City. There has only been one morning so far where I needed to scrape snow off of my Jeep to go to the store.

In early winter while up in the Wasatch Mountains I noticed that some of our reservoirs were at the lowest levels I have ever seen them since I came to Utah more than eleven years ago. Those reservoirs supply water to the people that live along the Wasatch Front, including Salt Lake City. Snow is what fills those reservoirs. All over the state the snowpack is down. Utah is in a drought that ranges from moderate to extreme.

Last month on Christmas Eve morning I was up in the Wasatch Mountains an I was alarmed at the lack of snow I saw up there for this time of the year. Where I should have seen several feet of snow I was seeing grasses and bare ground.  It was a shock to see so little snow.

I know that people believe as long as we get snow up in the mountains we’ll do okay. Perhaps we will, this year.

Head on Ring-billed Gull on a snowy day – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 1000, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The valleys still need snow though in ways that aren’t always obvious. We have large, beautiful trees and native grasses that get their moisture from the snow and rain we get on the valley floor. When snow in the valley melts and soaks into the ground our trees and native grasses soak it up in the spring.

When I am out in the field I pay attention to more than birds. I also notice how the trees and grasses are doing. From late summer through fall and into this winter I noticed trees on slopes of mountain ranges showing signs of drought damage. This winter I have also observed native grasses that have been grazed on by domestic animals and wildlife down to the bare ground. I can see the roots. I haven’t ever seen a winter where the ground was so dry and barren in northern Utah. It is shocking.

My son Chris and his wife Sabrina are in Texas right now and a few days ago they got more snow down south than I have seen in my yard all winter long. That just isn’t right.

Where is our snow?

There is snow predicted in the 10 day forecast for Salt Lake City but there has been predicted snow since winter started and in almost every instance we have gotten a few flurries and then the snow stops.

Spring isn’t that far away now and if our weather pattern doesn’t change soon and if we don’t get more snow we could be in trouble. This year.

Mia

Annual United States Climate Stripes: Temperature and Precipitation Zoom in on the counties in Utah. It does not look good at all.