Utah, 2001

Winter Storm in Utah, November 22 to 23, 2001

November 22 to 23, 2001 · NWS SLC · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

The first major winter storm of the season blew into Northern Utah, breaking precipitation and snow records along the Wasatch Front. The storm brought joy to skiers, but agony to commuters.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$560,000
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.

The first major winter storm of the season blew into Northern Utah, breaking precipitation and snow records along the Wasatch Front. The storm brought joy to skiers, but agony to commuters. The snow was measured in feet at the ski resorts, but over 200 traffic accidents were reported with the storm. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries from those accidents. The only other damage reported was when a flat roof collapsed and fell from the weight of the snow at what was once the Victory Theater in Salt Lake City. The building was unoccupied, but the damage was estimated at $300,000. Snow totals from this double-barreled storm system were impressive, especially in the mountains. Some of the totals included 50 inches of champaign powder at Alta, 44 inches at Snowbird, 42 inches at Brighton, 37 inches at Solitude, 36 inches at Silver Fork, 21 inches in Farmington Canyon and 12 inches in Park City. The Wasatch Front valleys and benches faired well too, with 10 inches on the North Salt Lake bench and Upper Millcreek, 8 inches in Sandy and Alpine, 6 inches in Holladay and 3 inches at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Much of the storm started as rain in the valleys, so the snow totals could have been much higher.

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 Nov 22, 10:00 AM MST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 22, 10:00 AM MST, 2 hours before
UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1000 AM MST THU NOV 22 2001

.SYNOPSIS...A MUCH COLDER AIRMASS WILL MOVE INTO UTAH THIS AFTERNOON
FOLLOWING A COLD FRONT. A COLD NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL FOLLOW
THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...KEEPING THE AIR MASS MOIST AND UNSTABLE.

.DISCUSSION...WIDESPREAD SHOWERS WITH SOME THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
NORTHERN HALF OF THE AREA AS THE FIRST HIGH LEVEL SHORTWAVE MOVES
PAST.  MAIN COLD FRONT IN NORTHEAST NV AND LOOKS ON TRACK FOR EARLY
AFTERNOON PASSAGE ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT.  THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH
SOUTHERN UT BY ABOUT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND WILL BRING SHOWERS TO THE
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA WITH IT.  HOWEVER THE NORTH WILL GET THE
BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION WITH THE SYSTEM.  Q VECTORS SHOW FAVORABLE
LIFT OVER FROM A LITTLE SOUTH OF SLC NORTHWARD THROUGH ABOUT
MIDNIGHT WITH DEEP DIFFERENTIAL VORTICITY ADVECTION DURING MOST OF
THAT TIME AS WELL.  INSTABILITY LOOKS GOOD CLEAR THROUGH TONIGHT.
SO WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION LOOKS GOOD OVER THE
NORTHERN THIRD OF THE AREA...ESPECIALLY WHERE OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL
HELP.  CURRENT FORECASTS HAVE ALL THIS HANDLED WELL SO NO UPDATED
PLANNED AT THIS TIME.  WILL KEEP THE SNOW ADVISORY AS IS.  THERE
WILL PROBABLY BE A FEW AREAS THAT REACH WARNING LEVELS BUT ADVISORY
AMOUNTS SHOULD BE MORE COMMON.

THERE IS LIKELY TO BE SOME INFLUENCE FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE
TONIGHT AS THE REALLY COLD AIR ALOFT MOVE ACROSS.  HOWEVER MODELS
SUGGEST THE SURFACE FLOW WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PREVENT THE NORMAL
NIGHTTIME CONVERGENCE OVER THE LAKE.  SO RATHER THAN A NARROW
CONCENTRATED BAND IT MAY BE MORE OF A DISORGANIZED ENHANCED SHOWER
AREA SOUTHEAST OF THE LAKE.

SLC 875 CDC 554  SANDERS

.SLC...SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN MTNS THROUGH MIDDAY
       FRIDAY...ZONES UTZ007-010...IDZ025.

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Ne Box Elder T X Ne/W Weber/Davis

When
November 22, 12:00 PM MST to November 23, 9:00 PM MST
Where
Ne Box Elder T X Ne/W Weber/Davis forecast zone
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

Winter Storm, P Nc Weber/P C Morgan/P W C Summit/P Sc Wasatch

When
November 22, 12:00 PM MST to November 23, 9:00 PM MST
Where
P Nc Weber/P C Morgan/P W C Summit/P Sc Wasatch forecast zone
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

Winter Storm, Rich/Cache T Nw/P E C Weber/Most of Morgan/Nw Summit/Ne Salt Lake/X Ne Box Elder

When
November 22, 12:00 PM MST to November 23, 9:00 PM MST
Where
Rich/Cache T Nw/P E C Weber/Most of Morgan/Nw Summit/Ne Salt Lake/X Ne Box Elder forecast zone
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

Winter Storm, W Salt Lake T X W/E Toole T X E

When
November 22, 12:00 PM MST to November 23, 9:00 PM MST
Where
W Salt Lake T X W/E Toole T X E forecast zone
Property damage
$400,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

Winter Storm, W Utah T X Nw/P X E Juab

When
November 22, 12:00 PM MST to November 23, 9:00 PM MST
Where
W Utah T X Nw/P X E Juab forecast zone
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Utah in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, November 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: 5275572, 5275573, 5275574, 5275575, 5275576.