Satellite images show the startling difference between Utah's 2022 and 2023 snowpacks

Johanna Youdin looks at Mill Creek as she and her mother Kaitlin Youdin ski in Millcreek Canyon on Jan. 3. Utah's statewide snowpack has already exceeded all of last year's total.

Johanna Youdin looks at Mill Creek as she and her mother Kaitlin Youdin ski in Millcreek Canyon on Jan. 3. Utah's statewide snowpack has already exceeded all of last year's total. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — If you want to see how better this year's snowpack is compared to last year's, just check the satellite imagery.

The National Weather Service tweeted a satellite photo of Utah taken on Wednesday and compared it side-to-side with a similar photo taken on Jan. 31, 2022. The end result is a state covered in much more snow.

This visual evidence backs the data. Utah's statewide mountain snowpack reached 15.6 inches of snow water equivalent, or the amount of water in the snow, by Wednesday, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. That figure isn't just ahead of the normal for the start of February, it's just 0.2 inches below the state's 30-year normal snowpack for an entire season — a season that typically peaks in early April.

By contrast, the agency listed Utah's snowpack at 9.2 inches of snow water equivalent at the same point last year. Feb. 1, 2022, also happened to be in the middle of a dry stretch where the snowpack only climbed 0.2 inches from Jan. 8 to Feb. 16 that year.

In fact, Utah's snowpack last year topped out at 12 inches, a little more than 75% of the normal — and where things are right now in the snow collection season.

It's also been much snowier in the valleys. Salt Lake City, for example, ended up with another 10.1 inches of snow in January; the city received 0.9 inches last year. While most of that melted by the time of the satellite photo, the most recent storm dumped 8 to 15 inches in the Cache Valley last weekend. Most Logan sites only received about 7 inches of snow in all of January 2022.

Another storm heads toward Utah

The difference is expected to continue to grow heading into next week. A storm making landfall on the California coast Friday morning is forecast to make its way into Utah as early as Sunday afternoon, bringing valley rain and mountain snow at first, said KSL meteorologist Kristen Van Dyke.

"(By Sunday evening), we might briefly see some rain but it changes to snow along the Wasatch Front," she said. "There's a rain-snow mix into central Utah but it will eventually change into snow there, too."

The storm is forecast to linger into Monday, which may make for a snowy morning commute.

The National Weather Service published a model for Friday showing 1 to 2 inches of snow predicted for the valleys from Logan to parts of central Utah, while it is expected to bring in close to another foot of snow in the Wasatch Mountains between Sunday and Monday. Those projections are subject to change as the storm gets closer.

Van Dyke adds that the system should also help break up the inversion over the Wasatch Front and Cache valleys, which will drastically improve the air quality once the storm passes through. The Utah Division of Air Quality lists Cache and Duchesne counties as having unhealthy air quality Friday, while it is unhealthy for sensitive groups in Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Weber counties.

The poor air quality will continue up until a cold front pushes it out. Salt Lake County is forecast to join the unhealthy category on Saturday, according to the division.

Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online, at the KSL Weather Center.

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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