In Park City, we have closed the book on another ski season — a few weeks earlier than we may have anticipated when we began the season back in November. We can thank Mother Nature for its premature conclusion. It is no secret that this season has been historically bad. It has been well-docum ented in this column, as well as across local and national media, that the entire West has been facing one of its worst seasons on record. You may be wondering, what about those of us here in Summit County? Was this our worst winter season ever in terms of snowfall?  The answer, of course, is that it depends on how you look at it. If I have learned anything from my nearly two decades of working in the ski industry is that conditions are highly subjective. One person’s “worst season ever” could be another person’s best season. So it is very possible that your view of the season differs from what I — or the numbers — say about our winter.  When we look at this winter, we have to start by looking at the warmth. Utah had its warmest meteorological winter (December-February) ever, by a wide margin. This was then followed by a March in which we absolutely smashed the record for warmest March on record. Obviously, warmer temperatures mean that snow levels will be higher. Park City had a number of notable rain events in town, and often that rain extended well up onto the mountain. Not only do warmer temperatures mean less snow, but it also means that resorts have fewer opportunities to make snow. The snow that does fall is more likely to melt. It may sound obvious, but consistently warmer temperatures have a massive impact on snow conditions.  Nowhere is the impact of warm temperatures more obvious than when we compare our snowpack numbers to total precipitation. If we look simply at the amount of precipitation received since the start of the water year on Oct. 1, 2025, we find that we are tracking at 85% of median precipitation.  Going by precipitation alone, winter was only a little below normal this year. Credit: Chart courtesy of OpenSnow.com Yes, 85% is below normal, but only marginally below normal. We have had many seasons with far less than 85% of median precipitation at this point of the water year. In terms of precipitation, this has not been a notably dry year.  However, when we look at snowpack, it tells are far different and more ominous story.  And this chart shows snowpack at a higher elevation. Lower, of course, it was the worst, thanks to warm temperatures. Credit: Chart courtesy of OpenSnow.com We are currently sitting at just 50% of median at Thaynes Canyon in the high elevations of Park City. While we managed to peak above the previous minimum season, our record heat in March caused a far-earlier-than-normal melting of the snowpack. Last week, we dropped below the record minimum for the date.  While these numbers are poor, it’s important to note these numbers are for the higher elevations. They do not accurately reflect the lower elevations of Deer Valley and Park City, where the impact of the warm temperatures was more acutely felt. You may have noticed that we were unable to maintain a consistent base for much of the season on the lower half of the mountain. While we don’t have a way to compare low elevation snowpack at Park City historically to previous years, I have to think this was likely the worst season on record for the low elevations.  For me personally, it was a painful season both professionally and personally. My job is to forecast fresh snow. My favorite activity is to ski fresh snow. Being a merchant of bad news all season has been emotionally draining. I care deeply about what I do and helping folks score their best day possible on the mountain. Therefore, I would certainly call this my worst season ever. I hope to never have to forecast another season like this one. Where do we go from here? While skiing may be over in Park City, it continues for at least a couple more weeks in the neighboring Cottonwood Canyons. Snow coverage is still good and it looks like we may get fresh snow early next week. There are still opportunities to score powder yet!  Hydrologically, we should all be rooting for a wet spring season in Utah. Utah’s Natural Resources Conservation Service office indicated that we had our lowest April 1 snowpack in history statewide and that it will “strongly influence water supply forecasts” as we head into summer. We can also expect developing or worsening drought conditions across the state, as well as elevated wildfire danger this summer. Do your rain dances and be thankful for any and all precipitation we can squeeze out in the coming months. Thank you for sticking with me this season as we navigated an unprecedentedly poor winter season here in Park City. I truly wish I had more good news to share with you throughout the season. Perhaps next year, The Outlook will return to offering its readers something to look forward to in the upcoming week rather than just a weekly dose of bad news. Until then, I wish you all a wonderful summer season.  For up-to-date forecasts, you can subscribe to Evan’s Utah Daily Snow forecast on OpenSnow.com and the OpenSnow app.  The post The Outlook: This season was hard on everyone appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less