Utah

Meteorological winter is here. What's in store for Utah this season?

Published

1 year ago

December 2, 2024

Meteorological winter is here. What's in store for Utah this season?

Despite a warm and dry start to the season, Utah’s statewide snowpack ended meteorological fall slightly above average with 2.8 inches of snow water equivalent.

However, meteorological fall typically produces hors d’oeuvres when compared to meteorological winter, Utah’s main snowpack course. About two-thirds of Utah’s mountain snowpack — a calculation of water in fallen snow — falls between the beginning of December and the end of February.

That’s according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s 30-year median average of data collected from 1991 through 2020. Since about 95% of Utah’s water supply comes from the snowpack collection and spring runoff process, the success of meteorological winter often makes or breaks any given water year.

“That’s when we get our most amount of snow, so it’s very significant,” says Candice Hasenyager, director of the Utah Division of Water Resources, talking about the season that began on Sunday.

A good winter also matters for snow recreation outdoors, but what’s in store this winter remains a bit of a mystery as long-range forecasts offer no clear signal when it comes to precipitation. That’s par for the course, though, with the conditions setting up over the Pacific Ocean.

Utah’s winter outlook

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center updated its La Niña watch last month, noting that there was about a 57% chance that the oceanic pattern would emerge by the end of this year and last through the first quarter of 2025.

Above-normal trade winds blow warm Pacific Ocean water west, allowing cooler water to resurface in the eastern Pacific during a La Niña pattern, as noted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This typically causes the winter jet stream to move north, often creating a track that sends winter storms through Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest as systems move east.

Meanwhile, warmer and drier conditions generally set up across the southern U.S. during a La Niña pattern.

A map of a typical La Niña winter. Forecasters say it appears that trend will return this winter. | National Weather Service

This also shows up in the prediction center’s final outlook for meteorological winter, where most of the upper West and Great Lakes regions are listed as having the highest precipitation probabilities this winter. The Southwest through the Southeast have higher probabilities for drier conditions.

Utah, however, is less influenced by La Niña — or El Niño — than other states. Both oceanic patterns tend to help or hurt areas north and south of the Beehive State, while Utah tends to get a wide range of winters that are good, bad or somewhere in between. It all comes down to where the jet stream forms.

Its last three La Niña winters — 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 — are perfect examples of this. Utah only received 2.34 inches of precipitation statewide during the 2020-21 winter, which was its 18th-driest meteorological winter dating back to 1895, per federal climate data. The following season was also below normal but closer to normal.

Then in the 2022-23 winter, Utah received 5.78 inches statewide — its ninth wettest winter on record. That same water year, boosted by a jet steam that kept pushing storms through Utah, also produced the state’s largest snowpack on record. It was was larger than the 2020-21 and 2021-22 water years combined.

These maps show the temperature and precipitation probabilities for the U.S. from Dec. 1 of this year through Feb. 28, 2025. Most of Utah is expected to have a warmer winter, but precipitation totals are less certain. | National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center

Long-range forecasts for the next three months reflect this uncertainty. Most of Utah is listed as having “equal chances,” meaning there’s about an equal probability that Utah ends up with a wetter, drier or near-normal precipitation this winter. Southern Utah has a slightly higher probability of below-normal precipitation.

Most of the state has a slightly higher probability for above-normal temperatures over the next three months. Only a sliver of northern Utah is listed as having equal temperature odds.

Utah’s water savings account

Hasenyager told KSL.com that she’s holding out hope, but the state has a saving grace in its reservoirs right now. Utah’s reservoir system entered December nearly three-fourths full, which is about where it was this time last year. It’s also 20 percentage points ahead of the winter median after back-to-back above-normal snowpack and lower consumption averages in recent years.

That gives Utah’s water reserves a boost in case the state endures another bad season.

“They’re our bank account. They help us to extend over periods where we have less than optimal snowpack and less than optimal runoff,” Hasenyager said. “We’re hoping for a big year, as always. But if for some reason we don’t, it’s nice to have the reservoir (capacity) available.”

She adds that ways to reduce water consumption are still recommended in case there is a bad winter followed by more drought in the summer. However, another good winter would mean another boost for the Great Salt Lake and Lake Powell, two large bodies of water that remain well below full capacity after major drops during the two-decadeslong “megadrought.” Both have benefitted from controlled releases out of reservoirs to combat flooding concerns.

Gov. Spencer Cox said Monday that he believes that the Great Salt Lake could even move toward “healthy territory” by next spring should the Great Salt Lake Basin have another good snowpack collection.

“We’re hopeful to have a good year,” he said. “Regardless of whether we have another great year, a mediocre year or a terrible year, we’re in better shape than we’ve been in many years because of (conservation efforts).”

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Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration

Published

3 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration

SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.

In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.

The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.

The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.

Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.

Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.

If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.

–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful

The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.

As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.

“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.

Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.

“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.

Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.

“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.

If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.

–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland

Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.

“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.

The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Published

16 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.

He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.

MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche

In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.

“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.

A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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