Much of 2021 was spent discussing the severe drought throughout the region but the hope is that recent storms have made a positive impact. The SNOTEL report issued on December 27th shows that the Northeastern Uintahs have measured at 119 percent of normal for Snow Water Equivalent and the Duchesne River Basin measured at 135 percent of normal. Surprisingly, the entire state is close to the median for this time of year if you average the state-wide snowpack. In fact, all major basins in Utah are at or above 84% of the median individually. So does this mean an improvement in drought conditions? National Weather Service’s answer to that question is that we are going to need to see how the snowpack holds up through the winter before it’s known how it will affect drought conditions.
