December Precipitation in S.L. Almost Tripled

The month of December in Salt Lake City saw nearly three times as much precipitation as usual in 2007, according to the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.

Normally, the city receives 1.23 inches of water in the snow and rain that falls in December, said meteorologist Monica Traphagan with the Weather Service. In 2007, 3.35 inches of snow-water equivalent accumulated.

Cedar City also had about twice as much precipitation as usual, according to Traphagan. Almost 1.5 inches fell this year compared to the normal 0.65 inches.

Wet and wild also aptly described Utah Valley’s December weather.

Utah Valley hasn’t seen this much wet weather in December since 1983.

The Brigham Young University weather station logged 3.7 inches of snow and rain for the month — the valley’s fourth-highest tally since the start of record-keeping in 1889. BYU weather observer David James said the Provo River snowpack rebounded quickly during December to 90 percent of normal from only 26 percent of normal.

James said Utah Valley received a record 6 inches of precipitation in December 1983.

The wet trend is not expected to hold during the first three months of 2008, according to the Climate Prediction Center, which works closely with the weather service. Most of northern Utah is expected to see a normal amount of precipitation through March with only far northern cities like Logan and Randolph expected to see above-normal precipitation.

In contrast, southern Utah is expected to see below-normal precipitation by March.

Utah’s wet December can be attributed to a series of low- pressure storms that blew through the region, Traphagan said. No global patterns are believed to be responsible for an increase in the storms.

Similarly, Utah’s dry November is being attributed to chance. High-pressure fronts dominated then, keeping storms to a minimum, Traphagan said.

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