Thanks to Bing Crosby, everybody dreams of a white Christmas. But for the 2016 holiday season, skiers saw nothing but white as Santa left the best present of all under Utah’s trees – several feet of powder.
According to Ski Utah, the state’s 14 resorts got hammered with a holiday storm. The snow fell all across Utah where the official measurement at the Salt Lake International Airport was 8 inches – the second most in recorded history. But the mountains won big with snowfall totals coming in over two feet in some places. The big winner this round was Southern Utah, where Brian Head got 38 inches of snow and (get this) Eagle Point reporting a whopping 47 inches of powder over the weekend.
“December has been a month for the books,” says CEO/President of Ski Utah, Nathan Rafferty. “These early season storms have not only put a very solid base on all our resorts but we are well over 100% of our average snowfall to date, which usually is a strong sign for the rest of the season and the state’s economy.”
Below are the storm totals from Utah’s ski resorts:
- Eagle Point: 47″
- Brian Head: 38″
- Powder Mountain: 26″
- Deer Valley: 25″
- Snowbird: 25″
- Snowbasin: 24″
- Park City: 21″
- Brighton: 21″
- Alta: 20″
- Solitude: 19″
- Sundance: 13″
- Beaver Mountain: 10″
- Nordic Valley: 10″
- Cherry Peak: 10″
This is good news not just for skiers, but Utah overall and these large storms are doing wonders for our snowpack. According to the Utah Snotel Snow Water Equivalent map, parts of the state are seeing 120% to 186% above normal for this time of year. Check out the map.
And the snow may not be over yet, as Wasatch Snow Forecast says models show a good chance of more on the way for the first month of 2017. So keep those powder boards on hand!