(KUTV) â
As Utah’s snowpack continues to dwindle and fires across the state continue to spark, experts are warning of a difficult road ahead in this severe drought.
Snowpack is very low this year and is “just falling apart,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. Right now, he said, it’s about 33 percent of normal.
“Most of that water is being soaked up by our really dry soils,” Clayton told 2News. “That means that a lot of that water isn’t getting into our streams and reservoirs.”
In some places, Clayton said, conditions are potentially the worst on record.
It is unprecedented and it is worrisome.
So much so that Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has declared a state of emergency due to the massive encroachment of drought impacting all the state’s more than 54 million acres.
The U.S. Drought Monitor puts 90% of Utah in the category of “extreme drought” and says that more than 2.7 million people in the state are impacted. Southern Utah recently elevated its drought to exceptional an even worse category.
“There’s really no reason for people to be watering lawns right now,” said Paul Monroe, general manager of the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District. “But when March 17 rolls around, everybody thinks their lawn should be green because of St. Patrick’s Day.”
SALT LAKE CITY It s the kind of snowstorm we desperately need.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning through early Wednesday morning, and they expect the mountains to get pounded with new powder. Will the storms have a significant impact on our very low snowpack levels in Utah?
Utah snowpack remains low, even with storms
After an extremely dry winter, officials with the National Weather Service say the past few days have made a bit of a dent in Utah s bad snowpack picture. Just a few weeks ago, the snowpacks were roughly 50% of what they should be, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brock Burghardt. Now, those levels are sitting closer to 65%.