SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — March is certainly coming in like a lion with a roaring start over the weekend.
The month kicked off with a winter storm that brought heavy winds that delayed flights and soccer games, caused road closures and buried a South Jordan neighborhood in tumbleweeds. This all culminated with a healthy dose of snow that blanketed Utah’s mountains and valley floors.
Just how much snow? Well, according to the National Weather Service of Salt Lake City, if you were in Davis or Weber County, a significant amount. Past the point of the mountain in Utah County, not so much.
An interactive snow-total map showing the last 72 hours of snowfall revealed the mountainous areas surrounding Little and Big Cottonwood Canyon were hit the hardest, which would be expected. The Canyons got over 10 inches of fresh snow with areas like Snowbird, Alta and Brighton recording as much as 13 inches of new powder.
The area between Ogden and Bountiful got the most snow on the valley floors. NWS data shows South Ogden recorded between eight to 10 inches of snow. The Layton-Kaysville area recorded between 5.5 to 7.5 inches while the Bountiful area received between 6.6 and 9 inches of new snow.
The storm started to taper off in the valleys by the time it reached Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Valley reportedly saw up to 5.5 inches of new snow while the Sandy area got about four inches. Once the storm passed the point of the mountain and moved into Utah County the snow had died down significantly. Lehi only saw about 3.5 inches of snow while Provo-Orem received just over an inch.
For those hopeful that this winter storm was the last hurrah before spring officially begins, you may be slightly disappointed. NWS experts forecast rain will hold on through the week before clearing out for partly cloudy skies on the weekend.
But as the old saying goes, “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” The Farmer’s Almanac calls March a “changeable month” where we can regularly see warm spring-like temperatures or late-season snowstorms.
“We can only hope that if March starts off stormy it will end on a calm note,” the Farmer’s Almanac said. “but the key word is ‘hope.’ However, this saying seems to be simply a rhyme rather than a true weather predictor.
