Heavy Snow — Capitol Reef National Park and Vicinity, Utah

2024-03-14 to 2024-03-16 · Capitol Reef National Park and Vicinity, Utah

Event narrative

A COOP observer in Lyman reported a storm total accumulation of 9.0 inches of snow, and a COOP observer in Capitol Reef National Park reported a storm total accumulation of 6.0 inches of snow. Additionally, a public report was received of storm total accumulation of 10.0 inches of snow in Torrey.

Wider weather episode

An initially modest cool season system and associated cold front brought precipitation to areas of Utah. For this period of the event, Utah's central mountains received slightly more notable snow, with limited impacts elsewhere through the state. This system then evolved into a cutoff low, which more or less meandered around the California/Arizona/Utah border region before eventually becoming reabsorbed into the greater flow several days later. Due to this, several prone locations in northern Utah valleys saw somewhat persistent strong easterly downslope winds, while areas in southern Utah (both low elevations and mountains) saw periods of impactful snow.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1164049. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.