A very mild storm brought high elevation snow to the Wasatch Front. The heaviest snow fell between 2200 MST Dec 22nd and 1000 MST the 23rd.
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.
The episode as NWS SLC wrote it up.
A very mild storm brought high elevation snow to the Wasatch Front. The heaviest snow fell between 2200 MST Dec 22nd and 1000 MST the 23rd. Snowfall totals were...TONY GROVE LAKE 10 BRIGHTON 8 MONTE CRISTO 6ALTA LIFTS 6 SOLITUDE 6 SNOWBIRD 6TRIAL LAKE 6 ALTA UDOT 5 BEN LOMOND PEAK 4HIGH UINTAS 4 CHALK CREEK 3 FARMINGTON CYN 2 PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WERE (INCHES)...TONY GROVE LAKE 2.00 SNOWBASIN 1.49 BEN LOMOND PEAK 1.30SNOWBIRD 1.20 ALTA UDOT 1.18 SUNDANCE 1.15BRIGHTON 1.11 TRIAL LAKE 1.00 MONTE CRISTO .90FARMINGTON CYN .90
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 Dec 22, 9:03 PM MST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 903 PM MST THU DEC 22 2005 .SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF MOIST PACIFIC DISTURBANCES WILL AFFECT MAINLY NORTHERN UTAH TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD BACK ACROSS THE REGION FOR THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...EVENING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND OBJECTIVE UPPER AIR ANALYSIS DEPICT SHORTWAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY TRANSLATING THROUGH THE COLUMBIA GORGE REGION WITH ASSOCIATED JET STREAK SPREADING INLAND ALONG THE CA/OR BORDER. REGION OF PRECIPITATION WHICH HAS SPREAD ACROSS SOUTHERN ID/NORTHERN UT/FAR SOUTHWEST WY THIS EVENING IS ASSOCIATED WITH REGION OF WARM AIR/THETA-E ADVECTION WITHIN 700-600MB LAYER. 00Z KSLC SOUNDING INDICATED 700MB TEMPS AROUND 0C AND A FREEZING LEVEL ABOVE 10 KFT. EARLIER REPORT FROM COTTONWOOD CANYONS INDICATED RAIN WAS MIXING WITH SNOW AROUND THE 8500 FT LEVEL WITH SNOW ABOVE 9000 FT. EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO TAPER OFF IN THE NEXT HOUR OR SO AS WARM ADVECTION DIMINISHES. THIS DECREASING TREND IS ALREADY EVIDENT IN KMTX RADAR IMAGERY WITH A WELL DEFINED BACK EDGE TO THE PRECIPITATION ACROSS WESTERN UT. COLUMBIA GORGE SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCAITED JET STREAK ARE EXPECTED TO DIG THROUGH THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ROCKIES LATE TONIGHT IN RESPONSE TO AMPLIFYING RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST. IT APPEARS NORTHERN UT WILL BRIEFLY COME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF THIS JET AS WINDS ALOFT VEER TO NEWLY WITHIN THE 06-09Z TIMEFRAME. PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THESE FEATURES IS CURRENTLY SPREADING ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ID. AS THIS FORCING SPREADS ACROSS NORTHERN UT EXPECT AN ENHANCEMENT IN THE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS /PARTICULARLY AREAS SUCH AS THE COTTONWOODS WHICH ARE GENERALLY FAVORED IN NW FLOW/ AS WELL AS ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT. ALTHOUGH PLENTY OF MOISTURE WILL BE AVAILABLE OVERNIGHT...WARM TEMPERATURES WILL LIKELY LEAD TO A WET AND FAIRLY DENSE SNOWPACK...AND THUS WILL LIKELY LIMIT TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS. PRECIPITATION SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH DURING THE MID TO LATE MORNING AS SHORTWAVE RIDGING BUILDS ACROSS THE REGION. UPDATED GRIDS/ZONES EARLIER TO INCREASE POPS ACROSS NORTHERN UT AND INCREASE CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE SOUTH. GOING ADVISORY LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE. OTHERWISE MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT BUILDING BROAD MID LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS OVER THE WEEKEND...WHICH WILL LEAD TO MILD CONDITIONS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. DISAGREEMENT REMAINS BETWEEN VARIOUS MODEL SOLUTIONS REGARDING TRACK OF SHORTWAVE TROUGH DURING THE MONDAY/TUESDAY TIMEFRAME...WITH PERHAPS A STRONGER SHORTWAVE TROUGH AFFECTING THE WESTERN CONUS FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. && .AVIATION...RAIN WILL LIKELY TAPER OFF TOWARD 05Z AT KSLC...BEFORE PICKING UP AGAIN TO WARDS THE 08-09Z TIMEFRAME. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD...ALTHOUGH CIGS/VIS MAY FALL INTO THE HIGH END OF THE MVFR CATEGORY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT. WINDS SHOULD REMAIN PREDOMINANTLY SOUTHERLY...ALTHOUGH MAY TAKE ON A NORTHERLY COMPONENT AT TIMES ASSOCIATED WITH ANY PRECIPITATION. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM FRIDAY FOR UTZ007-UTZ008-UTZ009. WY...NONE. && SEAMAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 412 AM MST THU DEC 22 2005 UTZ001>011-014-015-017-WYZ021-231300- CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS- GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT- SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SANPETE/SEVIER VALLEYS- SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT-SOUTHWEST WYOMING-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80- WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS-WEST CENTRAL UTAH-WESTERN UINTA BASIN- WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- 412 AM MST THU DEC 22 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN UTAH...PART OF CENTRAL UTAH AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE... TODAY AND TONIGHT A PERIOD OF RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH THIS MORNING. PATCHY FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN THE FAR NORTHERN VALLEYS. A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. SEE THE LATEST STATEMENTS...SLCWSWSLC. RAIN AND SNOW WILL REDEVELOP TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A PERIOD OF RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW WILL AFFECT NORTHERN AREAS FRIDAY MORNING AND THEN TAPER OFF. A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS INTO FRIDAY (REFER TO SLCWSWSLC). HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL RETURN FOR THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGE TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. TARDY
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
8" in 12hrs at Brighton.
10" in 12hrs at Tony Grove Lake
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 2005
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: 5483708, 5483709.