Heavy Snow in Utah, May 21 to 22, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Utah, May 21 to 22, 2002
Start: 2002-05-21T18:00
End: 2002-05-22T18:00
Location: Utah

May 21 to 22, 2002 · NWS SLC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A storm brought rain to the valleys and snow to the higher mountains of the Wasatch Front. Tony Grove Lake reported 18 inches of new snow, with Alta receiving 16 inches and Snowbird one foot.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

A storm brought rain to the valleys and snow to the higher mountains of the Wasatch Front. Tony Grove Lake reported 18 inches of new snow, with Alta receiving 16 inches and Snowbird one foot.

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 May 21, 3:20 PM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 3:20 PM MST, 2 hours 40 minutes before

UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
420 PM MDT TUE MAY 21 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD UPPER LOW WILL LIFT NORTHEASTWARD OUT OF UTAH
TONIGHT. A COLD AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA
WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH WILL CROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT AND THURSDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN ON FRIDAY.

.DISCUSSION...CIRCULATION CENTER THAT PARKED OVER THE LAKE TODAY NOW
ON THE MOVE OFF TO THE NE WITH A COLD MOIST NWLY FLOW WRAPPING IN
BEHIND IT. THIS SHOULD KEEP PRECIP GOING MUCH OF THE NIGHT FOR THE
WASATCH FRONT AND IN THE ADJACENT MTNS SO HAVE KEPT SNOW ADVISORY
GOING THRU TONIGHT. CONVECTIVE SHOWERS WILL PERSIST INTO THE
EVENING ELSEWHERE THEN DIE OFF. COLD AIR ALOFT STICKS AROUND OVER THE
NORTH WED AND EXPECT SCATTERED INSTABILITY SHOWERS TO DEVELOP.
SECONDARY TROF RE-ENFORCES THE COLD AIR ALOFT LATE WED AND WED
NIGHT...AND COULD KEEP A THREAT OF PRECIP GOING INTO THU. THE SOUTH
STABILIZES AND DONT EXPECT MUCH MORE THAN AFTERNOON CLOUDS WED AND
THU.

RIDGE FOR THE WEEKEND BRINGS A WARMING TREND THEN THE NEXT TROF
BRINGS A THREAT OF PRECIP SUN. THIS WOULD BE PRIMARILY
DIURNAL CONVECTION. 00Z MRF/AVN DOES HINT THAT SOME MOISTURE MAY
LINGER INTO MON BUT LEFT THAT DAY AND TUE DRY FOR NOW.

SLC 7552  CDC 2-00  WILENSKY

.SLC...SNOW ADVISORY WASATCH MOUNTAINS OF UTAH AND SOUTHERN IDAHO
       TONIGHT.

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Wasatch Mountains South of I80

When: May 21, 6:00 PM MST to May 22, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Wasatch Mountains South of I80 forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

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

When: May 21, 6:00 PM MST to May 22, 6:00 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
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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Utah, May 2002

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: 5324283, 5324284.