Alta Ski Area, UT, Experiences Record-Breaking February

Following Alta Ski Area’s record-breaking snowfall last season in Utah, it may come as a surprise that the snowbase in February, which was 152 inches, was one inch deeper than last year’s base at the same time. On top of that, it came only 15 inches away from reaching the resort’s all-time February record of a base of 167 inches.

This year’s snowfall at Alta has been very high density, with an average water content of 9.4% compared to 7.4% last year. This has caused a total of 14.16 inches of snow water equivalent to build up at the Alta-Collins snow stake in February alone. This is the most for February in the 43-year-old history of Collins Study Plot. Low-density snow comes with cooler air with less wind, whereas high-density snow usually results from warmer temperatures and high winds. Because less air is between the snow particles as a result of the compaction from the heavier and wet snow, the snowpack is thicker and less likely to shift, resulting in a larger base. 

In February, Alta received over 5.3 inches of snow on average per day, making it the third snowiest February recorded. The resort has gotten 449 inches of snowfall so far this season, which is the most snowfall in the lower 48, with total snowfall as of February 28 being 121% of the average 372 inches. This season’s total water quantity so far is 41.62 inches, which is 135% of the average 30.93 inches. At Alta Ski Area, March is usually the snowiest month, with an average of 96.76 inches of snow and 7.63 inches of water. April also has had significant snowfall historically, with an average of 77.05 inches of snow from 6.82 inches of water. If the rest of the season delivers average snowfall, Alta would bring in just over 600 inches of snow for the season, which is short of the 903 inches they received last season but still above its average yearly snowfall of 550 inches.

Not only did Alta Ski Area rake in impressive precipitation totals but Salt Lake City reported the fifth-wettest February on record, with 18 of the 29 days of the month receiving measurable precipitation. The average precipitation for February is 1.36 inches in the valley, but it ended February with nearly triple that with 3.37 inches of total precipitation. With that being said, there wasn’t much snowfall. This is because a majority of the storms that have hit the Wasatch this year have had a southwest flow, which brings warm and wet conditions that typically lead to primarily just rain in the valley. Overall, February was record-setting in terms of precipitation for Alta, SLC, and much of Northern Utah.