Utah’s snowpack on April 1 was the lowest ever recorded by a wide margin, report shows

Utah’s snowpack on April 1 was the lowest ever observed since systematic snowpack measurements began, and it’s worse when compared to the next lowest year by a wide margin.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah’s snowpack on April 1 was the lowest ever observed since systematic snowpack measurements began, and it’s worse when compared to the next lowest year by a wide margin.

According to a report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Utah Snow Survey, historic snow records date back to 1930, and the 2026 Utah snowpack is unprecedented. The next lowest April 1 snow water equivalent (SWE) was in 2015, but even that year was about five times higher than the statewide SWE in 2026.

Historic low snowpack leaves Utah bracing for a tough water year

Snow water equivalent is what you get when you melt snow into its liquid state. The next lowest April 1 SWE in Utah was 1934, 1977, and 2018. The NRCS said that this historically low snowpack is strongly going to influence water supply forecasts for Utah this year.

Our snowpack peaked early this season on March 7, at 8.3 inches of SWE. For comparison, the median peak snowpack in Utah is 14 inches. The 2026 peak is lower than 2015 and 2018 by two whole inches.

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The low snowpack is going to have an impact on reservoirs throughout Utah, especially in Southern Utah. The majority of water basins in southern Utah are below 20%, with several below 1%. One of the largest concerns is Lake Powell/Glen Canyon, with officials worrying that the lake will reach dead pool levels, where the Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate energy.

This year is going to be a difficult year in terms of water supply, but it’s not completely hopeless. Reservoirs still have a decent amount of water, and we’re a little better off now than we were in 2021 and 2022.

“We can recover from this. One of the things we are still benefitting from is a reservoir system that’s between 60 and 70% capacity for the state of Utah,” said Jordan Clayton, data collection officer and supervisor with the Utah Snow Survey.

However, it would take several years of great snowpack to recover, which seems to be less and less common these days.

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Source: Utah News