Photos: Utah resorts get record-breaking snowfall

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This week, annual snowfall at Brighton Ski Resort exceeded 700 inches. Putting this number in perspective, most resorts in the state get an average of around 500 inches a year, according to ski industry promoter Ski Utah.

The record-breaking snowfall, almost reaching 60 feet (or 10 Shaun Whites), is the “earliest in the season that this has occurred since Utah began recording snowfall in 1943,” per Ski Utah historical data.

The Utah Department of Transportation had its hands full, facilitating constant avalanche mitigation in the canyons while its fleet of 500 plows cleared approximately 24,300 lane-miles of road during and after every storm.

Wednesday, celebrating a rare season of bottomless snow, the Utah Office of Tourism placed a 700-inch-tall banner on the side of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Salt Lake City. To give an idea how much snow communities across the state have managed, here are some of the best Deseret News photos from this winter:

A truck is buried in snow in Brighton, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Ankur Patel walks beside a large snowbank in Brighton, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Professional skier John Collinson ski tours around Big Cottonwood Creek. — Professional skier John Collinson ski tours around Big Cottonwood Creek while modeling for a Smith Optics photo shoot in Brighton, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

A truck drives through a large puddle as high snow banks start to melt in Brighton. — A truck drives through a large puddle as high snow banks start to melt in Brighton, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Dave Eiriksson, Natural Resources Conservation Service snow survey hydrologist, stands in a snow pit that was dug to access buried electrical components at the Atwater SNOwpack TELemetry site, operated by the NRCS at Alta, on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

Walkers and their dogs enjoy the warmer temperatures after a small snowstorm in early springtime in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

A yield sign is nearly buried in snow in Brighton. — A yield sign is nearly buried in snow in Brighton, on Monday, March 13, 2023.

Snow on and around the trees in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.

Capitol groundskeeper Mike Nielson clears the walkways at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

Cathy Morgan-Mace cleans snow and ice off her family’s car during a snowstorm in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 22, 2023. — Cathy Morgan-Mace cleans snow and ice off her family’s car during a snowstorm in Salt Lake City, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

Snow partially covers the street signs in Suncrest in Draper on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023.

A motorist drives as snow is piled high in Suncrest in Draper on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023.

The Silver Fork Lodge is covered in snow in Brighton on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

An unidentified man digs his car out of the snow in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022.

Derek Tima, 5, and Alina Mardirosian, 4, get a taste for fresh Utah powder after dunking their heads in the snow while sledding in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. The two were with family and friends on a trip to Utah from their home in Glendale, Calif.

Randall Rice walks under a canopy of snow-covered tree branches during a snowstorm in Salt Lake City, on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

Carmen Gonzalez plays with snow for the first time in her life on the grounds of the Capitol in Salt Lake City. — Carmen Gonzalez, of Venezuela, plays with snow for the first time in her life on the grounds of the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022.

Mallory Hiegel plays with her dog Basil during a snowstorm in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022.

People walk past the 700 inches banner hung by the Utah Office of Tourism on the Hyatt Regency in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, to celebrate the accumulated snow depth in Utah.

The wildest photos after 700 inches of the ‘Greatest Snow on Earth’ fall on Utah

Utah resorts surpassed 700 inches, the earliest in the season ever recorded