Heavy snow and rain received in Tooele Valley over the past few days brought water totals to normal levels, according to the National Weather Service.
On Saturday, the valley was blanketed with three inches of snow and 0.49 inches of precipitation. Monday, another three inches of snow and 0.46 precipitation fell, said Ned Bevan, a cooperative weather observer for the NWS.
“Yesterday’s storm actually got us up to normal for the month, right on the money,” he said.
But, according to a hazardous weather outlook advisory published by the NWS, the storms may not be done.
On Monday at 6:35 a.m., the stormy weather prompted the NWS to publish a hazardous weather outlook advisory “for the western two-thirds of Utah and southwest Wyoming.”
The warning predicted “significant accumulations of snow” that could cause travel problems in Salt Lake and Tooele valleys, as well as near the Deep Creek Mountains and Ibapah.
The advisory was updated today at 6:41 a.m. to reflect current weather conditions.
According to the advisory text, mountains in the extreme northern and northeastern parts of Utah could receive heavy precipitation throughout the day. Meanwhile, precipitation in western and northern Utah is predicted to increase this afternoon and then gradually decrease during the night.
Late Wednesday, a drier and more stable airflow could move the storm out of Utah. As a result, Thursday’s weather is predicted to be cool and dry, with temperatures gradually warming up heading into the weekend, according to the NWS advisory.
Although the weather could create slick driving conditions for motorists, it will help provide more water for farmers and residents this year, said Gary Bevan, president of Settlement Canyon Irrigation Company.
“We need it,” he said. “We’ve been in about a three-year drought. We just need this to catch up.”
Typically, March is the second-wettest month of the year after April, according to NWS data.
But this year, the beginning of March was dry, Bevan said.
“Our averages were dropping due to the warm weather,” he said. “March came in like a lamb, but it looks like it’s going out like a lion. I’m glad to see these storms.”
In addition to welcoming Monday’s storm, Bevan said he was glad to see the snowfall last weekend.
“We’re just starting to get back to normal (precipitation levels) with this last storm we had,” he said. “We’re hoping these storms will get us to a normal runoff. We had a really good storm last weekend.”
In the mountains, a foot of snow fell at Rocky Basin, while Bevan’s Cabin received 5 inches of snow during Monday’s storm, according to snow telemetry data.