Utah’s Climate and Water Report for Nov. 1 is here and provides an update on water conditions in the state’s mountains and valleys.The 2025 water year started off pretty well for Utah’s valley locations, the report said. Precipitation was 125% of normal for the month of October, and impressive totals in the Uinta Basin and in Southeastern Utah drove that number up. Statewide soil moisture at Utah’s SCAN sites ended the month below normal at 35% of saturation, roughly the same as last year at this time. The statewide value, however, glosses over important geographic differences. Soils are particularly dry in the northern and western regions of the state, as well as the St. George area. Conversely, soil moisture levels in the Uinta Basin bounced dramatically from record-dry in early October to around the bottom 30th percentile following the mid-October storms.  Soil temperatures are much colder than normal for this time of year in the St. George region, and cool but closer to normal elsewhere.While Utah’s mountains received more precipitation than its valleys for October (2.1 inches versus 1 inch), when compared to the typical amount that the state receives for the month, the mountain areas had a lower percent of normal precipitation than Utah’s valley locations (90% versus 125% of median), the report said. Some of that precipitation was snow. The report said that, while Utah Snow Survey, the author of the report, are always excited for the snowpack season, the group opted to not include snowpack percent of normal values in the report since the normals for this time of year are so minimal that any accumulation amount relative to those small numbers tends to blow up the percentages and isn’t meaningful. “We also want to caution Utahns to remember that last winter’s snowpack started slow but ended above normal and many other recent years have started strong but then flatlined in January with the presence of blocking atmospheric high pressure systems,” the report read. “Long story short: we welcome the snow but will wait to get too excited about it until much later in the season…” Utah’s statewide soil moisture levels are hovering close to the bottom 10th percentile of observations, which the report called “unfortunate” and said may impact runoff efficiency this coming snowmelt season. Examining the soil moisture story by depth, the surficial and middle portions of the soil column (2-inch and 8-inch depths) improved markedly from the mid-October precipitation events. Deeper portions of the soil column (20-inch depth) have retained below-normal soil moisture levels and are less likely to make significant gains before this winter sets in. Utah’s statewide reservoir storage is at 71% of capacity, which is 3% lower than last year’s Nov. 1 value. Water Availability Indices (WAIs) for Utah basins combine current reservoir conditions with observed streamflow for each region.  WAIs are in the top 20th percentile for three of Utah’s 18 major basins (Ogden, Price and Joe’s Valley) and well below normal for the Blacks Fork, Smiths Fork, Lower Sevier and Virgin River watersheds.The full report is linked below. CWR_Nov_2024DownloadThe post Utah Climate and Water Report: 2025 water year off to good start appeared first on Park Record.