At 4 a.m. Monday, Salt Lake City basked in 56-degree temperatures. Would dawn usher in another day like Easter, with balmy weather? Sorry. By 7:45 a.m., it was 36 degrees and snowing.
Wind gusts blew through the region as a powerful spring storm struck.
"It started to snow and temperatures plummeted," said Kevin Eubank, meteorologist at KSL.
The cold weather slowed the snowmelt that had been threatening to make streams in northern Utah jump their banks. At least for a time, the stream flows dropped.
But it also meant that snow piled up deeper, adding to the eventual runoff.
"We've got a foot in the mountains, the Wasatch Range" from the storm, Eubank said. "Valley locations are ranging right now (Monday afternoon) from an inch to about 5 inches in some spots."
Bountiful's higher bench areas had an accumulation of 8 inches.
"This was a real heavy, wet snow," he said.
From Wednesday through Friday, the area should have warmer weather. Then another storm system may approach.
Brian McInerney, hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, said the cold, wet weather, while it eases any concerns of drought, was "kind of a temporary patch to the long-term problem" of potential flooding.
Emigration Creek was one of the biggest worries, and the colder temperatures reduced flows there. It also slowed the snowmelt throughout northern Utah.
The region's snowpack should have begun melting three weeks ago, he said. Instead, "we're still adding to it."
That compresses the window during which the melt can take place. As mid-spring approaches, the period when warmer temperatures are inevitable, Utah also becomes susceptible to thunderstorms.
If there is "a rapid warming of 85, 90 degrees, with thunderstorm activity," he said, so much snow could melt so swiftly that problems could develop along Cache Valley waterways. The Logan and Blacksmith Fork rivers, the Little Bear, the Cub, all could have high flows.
"City Creek (near Salt Lake City) is another area we're concerned about," he said. To a lesser degree, stream monitors are fretting about Big and Little Cottonwood streams and the Jordan River, all near Utah's capital.
"We could come out of this runoff season without any floods at all, if the spring climate would cooperate," McInerney said.
That ideal situation would be if temperatures reach highs of 70 or 75 without rain.
"That scenario is highly unlikely," he added.
At least farmers and ranchers don't need to worry about drought this year. Reservoirs are so full that some water system operators are trying to dump water to make room for an expected high inflow.
Ray Wilson, hydrologist with the Snow Survey, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City, said the region's snowpack is generally quite high.
The snowpack will inevitably melt, Wilson added. "It could cause some problems if it comes off quickly."
E-mail: bau@desnews.com