Utah winter brings unseasonably warm, dry weather

The usual winter coats have been tucked into the back of the closet this year, and students are walking around with sweaters and even short sleeves.

"I usually wear a light jacket in the morning, or a hoodie and then just kind of change my outfit throughout the day," BYU student Megan Kirk said.

Some students are taking their books and study groups outdoors to enjoy the sunlight.

"I think it's super nice out, Kirk said. It's nice and sunny it's really warm, which is super nice."

Though the warm, sunny days are nice, many may be wondering what all this dry weather is doing to the water supply.

"That's gonna really affect us throughout the entire summer because we get most of our summer water from melting snow which we don't have," said Neil Hansen, a BYU professor of environmental science.

According to the Utah Division of Water Resources, 95% of Utah's water supply comes from snowpack. However, the state has seen little snow this season; even during December, the moisture Utah received was mostly rainfall.

"I'm hoping that it doesn't snow, Kirk says. I don't love walking in the snow, cause that's cold, but I think hopefully we'll get snow up in the mountains for the water reserves."

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's January report, this year's snowpack is well below normal. The snowpack statewide is at less than 60% of the average levels for this time of year, and the forecast suggests little change in the near future.

"The forecast is for continued warmer than average weather, Hansen said. Even if we were to get above-average precipitation, we can't make up what we've lost so far.

Hansen recommends Utahns be cautious about how much water they use in sprinklers and other outdoor irrigation, though he noted Utah is not in trouble yet.

"We have water stored in reservoirs that helps us get through droughts. And so, we can make it through; we just don't want to have many year-after-year droughts like this because then we'll deplete our reservoirs," Hansen said.

Some of Utah's reservoirs can store years' worth of water, but if the state does not receive enough snow to fill them, they may eventually run dry.