Soil moisture levels across Utah are extremely low, a factor that could bring foreboding when it comes to the efficiency of the spring runoff and what moisture is sucked up by the ground.
Still, the state’s mountains regions have reason to celebrate, according to a new report by the Natural Resources Conservation Service which tracks the water supply outlook during the snow accumulation season.
Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the agency’s Utah Snow Survey, said the 2025 water year started off pretty well even for Utah’s valley locations.
“Precipitation was 125% of normal for the month of October, driven up by impressive totals in the Uinta Basin and in southeastern Utah,” he noted.
The moisture boosted soil saturation levels “dramatically” in the Uinta Basin.
Utah’s mountains did receive more snow than valley locations .
“Some of that precipitation was snow, and while we’re always excited for the snowpack season (the mountains look lovely!) we opted to not include snowpack percent of normal values in this report since the normals for this time of year are so minimal,” Clayton said, adding they distort the percentages and therefore are not normal.