SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The 2023/2024 meteorological winter (Dec. 1 – Feb. 28/29) has ended, but not before leaving its mark in the record books.
You may remember the term “El Nino winter” being thrown around a few months back, and El Nino has certainly done its job in bringing ample precipitation and warm weather to the Beehive State.
Winter kicked off fairly slow this season with our snowpack sitting below average for the greater part of the first half. In December we had a bit of a dry spell, but January and February picked up the slack and launched our snowpack above average.
The average snow-water equivalent for the state on Feb. 29 is 12.2 inches, but this year we were sitting at a healthy 14.3 inches. This puts us at 117% of the median, or 17% higher than we’d expect to see by the end of February.
Every single week of 2024 has brought at least two days of precipitation to the Beehive State, but most storms were a mountain snow valley rain setup. Salt Lake City received 5.59 inches of precipitation from December through February, while 4.23 inches is the 30-year average.
Even though it is the shortest month, February was responsible for well over half of this winter’s precipitation. February brought an impressive 3.37 inches of precipitation to Salt Lake City, making it the 5th wettest on record.
Out of the 91 days in meteorological winter, 43 of them brought some sort of precipitation – nearly half of our days. However, while precipitation was solid this winter, valley snow rarely joined the party. Of the 43 days we saw precipitation, only 24 produced any snow, and most days were light showers or flurries after a long day of rain.
Only nine of the 24 snow days exceeded an inch. The average snowfall in this period is 35.5 inches, but only 20 inches of snow fell over the last three months. It was a similar story for most of Utah’s valleys, and that’s thanks to how unseasonably warm it’s been.
This meteorological winter was the fourth warmest on record for Salt Lake City, the average temperature for this season (including highs and lows) came out to 37.4 degrees. Generally, that number is 32.9 degrees, which is much closer to freezing and is therefore conducive to snow. It’s no surprise given we had the 10th warmest December and the eighth warmest February on record.
We are now in meteorological spring, but the astronomical first day of Spring isn’t until March 19, a day earlier than usual due to the leap year. Wintry weather will stick around a little longer, but we’re excited to see what this next season has to offer!
