Bands of heavy snow developed along the Wasatch Front, creating very messy driving conditions in Salt Lake, Utah and Davis counties and the adjacent mountains. The nearly stationary bands of snow resulted in a wide range of accumulation over relatively short distances.
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.
Bands of heavy snow developed along the Wasatch Front, creating very messy driving conditions in Salt Lake, Utah and Davis counties and the adjacent mountains. The nearly stationary bands of snow resulted in a wide range of accumulation over relatively short distances. Some specific snowfall amounts (in inches) were, Alta (UDOT) and Brighton Loop 23, Solitude 22, Sundance 19, Park City Mtn, Snowbird and Spruces 18, The Canyons and Snowbasin 14, Springville, Kimball Jct, and Laketown 9, Upper Millcreek and Payson 8, Spanish Fork 7, and 6 inches at North Salt Lake, Cottonwood Heights, Fort Union, and South Jordan. 5 Inches fell at Centerville, Val Verde, Coalville, Logan, Morgan and Tooele. 4 inches were reported at Layton Bench, Deer Creek Dam, Grantsville, Heber City, Provo and Randolph, with the Salt Lake City Avenues and Farmington reporting 3 inches. 2-inch amounts occurred at Salt Lake City Airport, South Ogden, Brianhead and Brigham City.
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 Feb 14, 8:55 PM MST, 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
855 PM MST MON FEB 14 2005
.SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTH INTO CENTRAL UTAH
TONIGHT THEN STALL ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH TUESDAY. THE FRONT WILL MOVE
BACK NORTH AS A WARM FRONT TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY WITH A
MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW EXPECTED THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...BANDS OF PRECIP CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHERN UT THIS EVE
BUT WE HAVE BEEN HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING THE AIRMASS COLD ENOUGH
FOR SNOW TO THE VALLEY FLOORS SOUTH OF ABOUT OGDEN. A NEW BAND HAS
REFORMED ACROSS THE FAR NORTH AND EXPECT SNOW TO REDEVELOP IN THOSE
AREAS THEN WIND DOWN BY ABOUT MIDNIGHT. THE SOUTHERN BAND LAYS ACROSS
SALT LAKE AND UTAH COUNTIES THEN WESTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN TOOELE
COUNTY LAYING JUST TO THE NORTH OF THE SURFACE COLD FRONT. THIS BAND
IS FORECAST TO BECOME THE MAIN FEATURE OVERNIGHT AND SHOULD KEEP
PRECIP GOING FROM ABOUT DAVIS COUNTY SOUTH TO JUAB COUNTY...THAT
SHIFTS SLOWLY SOUTHWARD WITH THE FRONT TAKING THE FOCUS OF THE
HEAVIEST PRECIP ALONG WITH IT. THE MODELS DO SHOW AIRMASS FINALLY
COOLING ENOUGH FOR VALLEY SNOW IN THIS BAND BY MIDNIGHT. SNOW WILL
BE ENDING FROM THE NORTH EARLY TUE BUT SHOULD DEPOSIT AT LEAST
ADVISORY LEVEL AMOUNTS OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT.
BAND CONTINUES TO SHIFT SOUTH TUE MORNING ENDING UP ACROSS CENTRAL
UT BY MIDDAY...THEN IT BREAKS UP BY AFTERNOON AS THE COLD AIR RIDES
EAST INTO THE PLAINS AND BAROCLINICITY WEAKENS.
STILL LOOKS LIKE THE OLD FRONT LIFTS BACK NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT
TUE NIGHT/WED ACCOMPANIED BY ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIP THEN A MOIST
AND RELATIVELY MILD SOUTHWEST FLOW SETS UP AND PERSISTS THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE WEEK.
CURRENT FORECASTS PROPERLY ADDRESSES RAIN/SNOW ISSUE AND WILL LEAVE
EVERYTHING...INCLUDING WINTER WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...AS IS FOR NOW.
WILL LIKELY ISSUE AN UPDATE LATER WHEN HEAVY SNOW WARNING FOR THE FAR
NORTHERN ZONES IS SCHEDULED TO EXPIRE AND WILL REASSESS THE SITUATION
AT THAT TIME.
&&
.AVIATION...TIMES FOR HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION LOOK TO BE 04-10Z AND
AGREES WELL WITH BANDING MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE
GREAT SALT LAKE. 30% CHANCE THE AREA MAY JUST SEE RAIN OR RAIN/SNOW
MIX, BUT IT IS VERY LIKELY THE AREA WILL SEE SNOW AFTER 06Z.
SUBSIDENCE BEGINS TO BUILD IN AFTER 14Z...SO AFTER 10Z PRECIPITATION
SHOULD BECOME SHOWERY WITH A 30% CHANCE OF ADDITIONAL SNOW SHOWERS.
LAKE ENHANCEMENT CAN BE RULED OUT AS TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
LAKE AND 700 MB SHOULD NOT BE FAR ENOUGH APART. AFTER THE ONSET OF
SUBSIDENCE ALOFT...THERE IS A 20% CHANCE THAT THE AREA MAY SEE MVFR
CONDITIONS CONTINUE THROUGH 18Z WITH CLEARING THEREAFTER. FOG
FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME FOR TUESDAY EVENING.
&&
.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
UT...WINTER WEATHER PRODUCTS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT...SEE
SLCWSWSLC.
WY...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT...SEE
SLCWSWSLC.
ID...HEAVY SNOW WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING...SEE
SLCWSWSLC.
&&
WILENSKY/HALLHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 435 AM MST MON FEB 14 2005 IDZ024-025-UTZ001>004-006>010-WYZ021-151300- CACHE VALLEY/IDAHO PORTION-CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION- NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT-SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS- SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT-SOUTHWEST WYOMING-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80- WASATCH MOUNTAINS/IDAHO PORTION-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS- WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- 435 AM MST MON FEB 14 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN UTAH...EXTREME SOUTHEAST IDAHO AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY A VERY SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL SLIDE SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. IT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW. A SECOND BAND OF HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BETWEEN ABOUT OGDEN AND THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE SALT LAKE VALLEY THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE MUCH OF TONIGHT. A VARIETY OF WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT. SEE SLCWSWSLC FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIODS. NO EXCESSIVE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY. THERE IS A RISK OF HEAVY RAIN AND SNOW FRIDAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
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, February 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: 5441475, 5441476, 5441477, 5441478, 5441479, 5441480.