- Gov. Spencer Cox urges Utahns to pray for snow amid low snowpack and drought.
- Utah's snowpack is at 60% of the median average for late January.
- Experts warn of potential water shortages and increased fire risk if conditions continue.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is again calling on people of all faiths to pray for precipitation, as the state's snowpack nears a low point in the modern era of snowpack collection tracking.
In an open letter, the governor called on people to pray for snow this weekend.
"We know that when people of all different faiths and backgrounds join together and plead for help from a higher power, remarkable things can happen," he wrote. "At the same time, we must do our part to conserve water."
His call comes as Utah's snowpack remains at 5 inches of snow water equivalent, or 60% of the median average for the final week of January. It's also only about one-third of the median average for any given year, with only about two months left before the normal peak, per the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Snowpack accounts for about 95% of the state's water supply. Cox's call for prayers comes less than a week after federal hydrologists released a discouraging first water supply outlook for the year, where they pointed out that the state might see equally below-average streamflows by the time the snowpack melts this spring.
The state needs about three or four large storms on top of the normal number of large storms that it receives in February and March to get back on track, said Jordan Clayton, a hydrologist for the Conservation Service during the meeting. He added that high-level snowpack sites have experienced a normal snowpack so far, but the equally important mid- to-low level snowpack sites have faced record low collections because it's been too warm for snow in most sites at 9,000 feet elevation or lower.
While a small storm could produce some mountain snow on Wednesday, Glen Merrill, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service, expects Utah's snowpack will reach a record low in the coming weeks before any substantial relief.
The agency's Climate Prediction Center projects warm and dry conditions to dominate the first week in February across the West, but it also lists most of Utah as having "equal chances" for precipitation in February. That means it's a toss-up if the month will be wet, dry or close to normal altogether.
Odds slightly tilt in favor of drier conditions across southern Utah. It also projects warmer-than-normal temperatures across the state, but it's unclear if that means a continuation of warmer storms, Merrill said.
State water managers called on residents to prepare for impacts by taking steps to reduce consumption after the report came out. Cox did the same on Monday, urging people to check for leaks in pipes and find ways to run less water at home.
"There are many things that you can do to directly help our state save the water we have," he added.
Approximately 94% of the state remains in either moderate, severe or extreme drought, while the rest is at least "abnormally dry," according to the U.S. Monitor. Experts pointed out that the low snowpack may have impacts ranging from struggling to refill lakes and reservoirs to an earlier start to fire activity.
This isn't the first time Cox has called for prayers while the state has dealt with drought. He first did it in 2021 while the state faced even worse drought conditions at the time, and again last year as wildfire activity picked up in the state.
