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Alta breaks a snowfall record after latest Utah storm

Little Cottonwood ski area had more snow between October and January than ever before.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Skiers celebrate snowfall and their last chance to ride the Albion lift at Alta Ski Area on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Alta reported 9 fresh inches of snow on Jan. 25, 2023, to break its all-time record for the most snow between October and January with 445 inches.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Skiers celebrate snowfall and their last chance to ride the Albion lift at Alta Ski Area on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Alta reported 9 fresh inches of snow on Jan. 25, 2023, to break its all-time record for the most snow between October and January with 445 inches.

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/bc674ce3-2d61-4899-8d38-81e1a1f71dc1.png Julie Jag
 | Jan. 25, 2023, 12:58 p.m.
| Updated: 1:00 p.m.

Alta Ski Area needed just one storm to “overperform” before the end of the month to tie its record for snow received between October and January.

Well, apparently this season’s crop is a bunch of overachievers because Alta snapped the record Wednesday with almost another week’s worth of snow still to go.

The Little Cottonwood Canyon ski area — which already has a reputation for being one of the snowiest resorts in North America with an average of more than 500 inches a year — got 9 inches of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday to give it 445 inches for the season. Its previous high was 442 inches in 1981-82.

And the storms apparently aren’t going to stop there. According to the forecasting website OpenSnow.com, Alta should receive almost another foot over the weekend and perhaps a whopping 13 inches on Monday.

When approaching the record, Evan Thayer, the Utah forecaster for OpenSnow.com, noted the 2022-23 season at Alta, and across the state, is the best in at least 40 years. Now that can be amended. It’s going down as perhaps the best season ever.

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Julie JagOutdoors Reporter

Julie left the beach of Santa Cruz, Calif., where she worked for 17 years, for the mountains of Salt Lake City in 2019. She has covered the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Maverick's big wave surf contest and two Olympics. A Colorado native, she enjoys creating her own adventure, occasionally with her husband and two kids in tow.