Heavy Snow — Wasatch Mountains I80 North, Utah

2004-12-06 to 2004-12-09 · Wasatch Mountains I80 North, Utah

Wider weather episode

A strong closed low in the Eastern Pacific was able to tap tropical moisture from the Equatorial Pacific and pushed it northeastward into Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. This system brought copious amounts of valley rain and mountain snow to the state. A strong jet stream over northern Utah focused the heaviest precipitation there. Strong winds at the higher elevations also accompanied the strong jet stream. A gust to 80 mph was recorded at Ogden Peak and Jupiter Peak as well as a 51 mph gust in Sandy. Some of the higher snowfall totals included 50 inches at Ben Lomond Peak, 48 at Alta, 46 at Sundance, 42 at Farmington Canyon, 34 at Solitude and Tony Grove Lake, 32 at Spruces, Trial Lake, and Brighton, 30 inches at Snowbird, 25 at Snowbasin, 20 at Parley's Summit, 17 at Deer Valley, 15 at Deer Creek Dam, 13 at Strawberry Divide and Wasatch Plateau, 12 at Liberty, Kamas, and Woodland, 7 at Cedar Breaks, Alpine, and Brian Head, 6 at Kimball Junction, Coalville, and Heber City, 5 at Altamont, 4 at Price and Boulder, and 3 in South Ogden, Layton Bench, Mount Pleasant, East Layton, and Nephi.This impressive storm also brought record water equivalent amounts to northern Utah. Some of the higher totals include Alta with 7.63 inches, Ben Lomond Peak 7.60, Sundance 7.33, Farmington Canyon 6.30, Solitude 4.32, Tony Grove Lake 4.10, Snowbasin 4.01, Spruces 3.78, Snowbird 3.60, Parley's Summit 3.10, Deer Creek Dam 2.92, Brighton 2.91, Trial Lake 2.60, Deer Valley 1.98, Strawberry 1.90, Bues Canyon 1.71, Liberty 1.70, Layton Bench 1.59, Wasatch Plateau 1.50, Heber City 1.31, Coalville 1.27, Farmington 1.21, Alpine 1.14, South Ogden 1.09, and Heber City 1.06.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5431612. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.