5PM: Despite recent rainfall, Utah needs more storms to put dent in state's drought

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SALT LAKE CITY — The storm that swept through Utah early Monday dropped snow on the peaks and rain in the valleys.

A hydrologist with the National Weather Service said the state certainly needs every drop of that rain to start making a dent in our drought and to start refilling our reservoirs.

But, after five years of below average run-off, he said we still need a lot of storms this fall.

"You look at the higher elevations and you see we've got snow up there. You think this is great, this is what we want to see," said National Weather Service Hydrologist Brian McInerney.

He said high pressure, sunshine and dry weather will return too soon. Rainfall from the recent storm ranged from 2 inches in Cache County to a half-inch in Salt Lake County, and not much moisture south of that.

What Utah really needs is a several-day soaker, the hydrologist said.

"We have incredibly dry soil and that bodes poorly for our run off," McInerney said.

The water year started Oct. 1. The best scenario for a big run off into Utah's reservoirs in the spring starts with a lot of rain — now.

"As much (rain) as you can get to saturate the soil as much as possible," McInerney said.

After that, Utah needs a lot of snow this winter. If the soil is saturated, snowmelt in the spring drains into reservoirs, rather than soaking into the soil. The hydrologist said Utah needs heavy rains every two to three days this fall.

But our region hasn't seen that in five years.

"We're coming into year six. Hopefully we will have a good run-off this year,” McInerney said. “But, we've had poor run-off each of the last five years and it all started off with poor soil moisture in the fall months."

Long range forecasting this year isn't so reliable for Utah weather with a weak La Niña system, McInerney said. But after five years with poor run-off and dry weather, Utah could be in for a shift. Our state has experienced seven straight years of below normal run-off in the past, McInerney said. Longer stretches are rare.

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