A breakdown of Utah's wild spring weather

A breakdown of Utah's wild spring weather

(Dave Cawley/KSL-Newsradio)


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SALT LAKE CITY — For nearly all of Utah, winter was a dud, but with April and May came a huge turnaround. April and May are normally the two wettest months of the year for the Wasatch Front, and if we get short-changed with storminess during the spring, it usually sets the stage for a hard summer. Consistent with our weird weather pattern, Salt Lake City received more snow in the spring (8.6 inches) than it did during the winter (6.0 inches).

Phenomenal May

Rainfall in May ranged from 13 inches and more in the mountains near Ogden to less than 1 inch in extreme southern Utah. Even though the rainfall totals in southern Utah were less than one inch, they were nearly four times more than normal!

The great news is all of Utah received above normal precipitation for the month. Some places along the eastern shores of the Great Salt Lake had phenomenal rainfall. Numerous towns in Davis and Weber counties received over 6 inches of rain. The Bountiful Bench had 8.07 inches for the month, making it the wettest of any month for the last 32 years. The most rain in a populated valley area was North Ogden with 10.09 inches. Wendover had 1.94 inches during May, which is nearly half of its normal rainfall for an entire year.

May Rainfall for Key Utah Towns
LOCATIONRAINFALL (in inches)PERCENTAGE OF AVG.
Alta5.93264%
Cedar City3.12405%
Layton3.12216%
Logan 5.14215%
Moab 1.21173%
Monticello1.96233%
Ogden7.20279%
Price1.74272%
Provo3.42164%
St. George0.83395%
Salt Lake City4.09210%
Richfield 2.44232%
Vernal3.26366%

Rainy days

Not only were the rainfall totals impressive, but the number of rainy days was exceptional. Salt Lake City had 18 days with rainfall, making it the most days with rain in May since records began 140 years ago in 1874. It was also a month of crazy thunderstorms. Davis County had 15 days with thunderstorms, which is the most in 30 years for any month.

Hail accompanied many of the thunderstorms. Bountiful had six days with hail, which is the most for any month in the last 28 years. Hail the size of half dollars fell south of Myton in the Uinta Basin on May 27, and ping-pong-ball-sized hail fell in Box Elder County at Honeyville on May 28.

Reservoirs

Lake Powell continues to be much lower than normal, but the snowpack in Colorado has been above average. Flaming Gorge, Deer Creek and Strawberry reservoirs are all at, or above, the normal elevations for the end of May. Pineview’s water content is 92 percent of normal for the end of May, and Jordanelle’s water content is 88 percent of normal.

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Kevin Eubank

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