Heavy Snow in Utah, January 24 to 25, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow in Utah, January 24 to 25, 2001
Start: 2001-01-24T21:00
End: 2001-01-25T18:00
Location: Utah

January 24 to 25, 2001 · NWS SLC · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

The Wasatch Front was hit by a "commuter special" as an overnight snowstorm continued into the day, with the heaviest snow falling around morning drive time. The northern mountains picked up 12-18 inches of the "Greatest Snow on Earth", while 4-8 inches fell over the northern valleys and bench areas.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SLC wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Salt Lake City, UT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 24, 4:00 PM MST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 24, 4:00 PM MST, 5 hours before

UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UTAH
400 PM MST WED JAN 24 2001

SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT AND LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS
UTAH TONIGHT AND EXIT THE STATE ON THURSDAY.

DISCUSSION...FRONT AND TROUGH LOOK ACTIVE ON SATELLITE AS THEY MOVE
INTO NV.  MODELS IN AGREEMENT WITH STRONG SW FLOW AHEAD OF TROUGH
TONIGHT THEN SHIFT TO NW FLOW IN THE MORNING.  EXPECT FROPA SLC
AROUND 12Z.  BEST DYNAMICS STILL FAVOR SOUTHERN UT TONIGHT BUT NORTH
WILL GET ITS SHARE MAINLY FROM OROGRAPHICS.  MM5 LOOKS GOOD WITH
RESPECT TO PRECIPITATION PATTERN AND ACCEPTED THIS FOR THE PRECIP
BASIS IN THE ZONES.  EXPECT PRECIP TO DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHWEST
SOON THEN SPREAD NORTH INTO THE NIGHT.  WENT WITH ADVISORY FOR MOST AREAS
BUT WRESTLED WITH TOTALS AS AREAS WHICH GET GREATEST SNOW TONIGHT
UNDER SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL NOT GET THAT MUCH TOMORROW UNDER NORTHWEST
FLOW AND VICE VERSA. THUS TOTALS MAY BE ON THE HIGH SIDE. OROGRAPHIC
PRECIP CONTINUES INTO THURSDAY BUT TAPERS OFF IN THE AFTERNOON OVER
THE NORTH AS FLOW BEGINS TO SHIFT TO WEST THEN SOUTHWEST BY NIGHT.
NEXT LOW DROPS INTO CA BY FRIDAY AND WEAK WAVE RIDES UP INTO UT WITH
FAIRLY MOIST SW FLOW THUS INTRODUCED CHANCE POPS FOR FRI.  LOW
CONTINUES TO DROP INTO AZ BY SUN AND SOUTHERN UTAH REMAINS FAVORABLE
FOR WRAP AROUND SHOWERS.  MODELS SHOW MODERATE TO STRONG PRESSURE
GRADIENT ACROSS WYOMING INTO NORTHERN UTAH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
IMPLYING POSSIBLE CANYON OR GAP WINDS ALONG WASATCH FRONT FOR THE
WEEKEND. LEFT CHANCE SNOW FOR TUES PER TROUGH IN MRF AND THEN DRY
WED FOLLOWING SAID TROUGH.  SLC 6823  CDC 8813 BURCH

.SLC...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY ALL MTNS...WASATCH
FNT...SW AND SC VLYS.

Event by event

5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northern Wasatch Front/Brigham City/Ogden Bountiful

When: January 24, 9:00 PM MST to January 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Northern Wasatch Front/Brigham City/Ogden Bountiful forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Heavy Snow, Wasatch Mountains I80 North

When: January 24, 9:00 PM MST to January 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Wasatch Mountains I80 North forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Heavy Snow, Salt Lake and Toole Valleys

When: January 24, 9:00 PM MST to January 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Salt Lake and Toole Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Heavy Snow, Wasatch Mountains South of I80

When: January 24, 9:00 PM MST to January 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Wasatch Mountains South of I80 forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Heavy Snow, Central and Southwest Mountains

When: January 24, 9:00 PM MST to January 25, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Central and Southwest Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Utah in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Utah, January 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5276348, 5276349, 5276350, 5276351, 5276352.