Summer storms ease drought impacts, but snowpack deficit still looms

July monsoons have eased drought impacts in Utah but water shortages persist. Photo: Nick Dunlap / UnSplash

PARK CITY, Utah — After one of Utah’s worst snowpack seasons on record, July’s monsoon storms offered a welcome reprieve but not a reset.

Above-average rainfall drenched areas of the state last month, soaking mountain soils, greening forage, and temporarily easing wildfire conditions. Yet despite the wet weather, Utah’s reservoirs remain well below last year’s levels because the state’s water supply is still overwhelmingly dependent on winter snowpack rather than summer thunderstorms.

State climatologists reported Utah’s mountains received 181% of normal July precipitation, while valley locations averaged 143% of normal for the month. The boost pushed statewide valley precipitation for the water year to 103% of normal, even after months of drought concerns.

“The much-needed rain did little for the state’s reservoir storage,” the report notes, “but the monsoonal storms helped significantly increase mountain soil moisture levels, decreased evaporative potential, improved forage availability, and reduced fire risk.”

For the Wasatch Back, the storms brought welcome relief after an exceptionally dry winter left snowpack at record or near-record lows. Mountain soil moisture climbed to 39% of saturation, above normal for early August, helping reduce stress on vegetation and slowing the rapid drying that fuels wildfire activity.

Still, the gains have limits.

Utah’s statewide reservoir system is just 54% full, down 15 percentage points from this time last year. Water availability remains especially poor across central Utah, where the Sevier River watershed has fallen below the 5th percentile.

“Overall our water availability in Utah is driven by snowmelt runoff,” the report states, emphasizing that summer rain cannot replenish reservoirs the way a healthy winter snowpack can.

Looking ahead, forecasters say Utah may not be done with the monsoon just yet.

Long-range outlooks continue to favor above-normal precipitation during August, giving more areas of the state a chance to see additional moisture after an unusually wet July.

For now, the monsoon has bought Utah some time, but after a historically poor snowpack, the state’s water outlook will ultimately depend on what falls from the sky this winter, not this summer.