Dire concern about snowpack in southern Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — With Utah's drought in full swing, the summer outlook is extremely different on either end of the state. Snowpack and water experts say that southern Utah is in very bad shape. Looking back on some of Utah's worst years for mountain snowpack and the water, this year, southern Utah is in the bottom 15%. A map of the state's current snowpack from the Utah Snow Survey shows a big difference between northern and southern Utah. The Wasatch Front is in the green, and statewide, it is at 92% of normal, but the further south, the worse it gets. The St. George area's snowpack is in the red, under 30%. State snowpack experts said the odds of southern Utah getting enough snow to even it out this year are extremely low. "It would take multiple really large storms to catch up to normal. We're calculating for southern Utah to catch up to a normal winter. There's probably less than a 10% chance of that happening," said Jordan Clayton, Supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. Clayton said the reason for the big difference between northern and southern Utah is that most of the winter storms missed the lower half of the state. Thankfully, the reservoir capacity statewide is 74%. Clayton predicts water levels will be low, but the reservoirs are full enough to last through the summer. That's because Utah had two good winters before this one.

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