Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is again calling on people of all faiths to pray for precipitation, as the state’s snowpack nears a low point in the modern era of snowpack collection tracking. … His call comes as Utah’s snowpack remains at 5 inches of snow water equivalent, or 60% of the median average for the final week of January. It’s also only about one-third of the median average for any given year, with only about two months left before the normal peak. … Cox’s call for prayers comes less than a week after federal hydrologists released a discouraging first water supply outlook for the year, where they pointed out that the state might see equally below-average streamflows by the time the snowpack melts this spring. 

Other snowpack news around the West:

• KUNR (Reno, Nev.): Dry winter so far raises early questions about water supplies in the Mountain West
• Denver Gazette (Colo.): Colorado snowpack still at all-time low after weekend snow
• FOX13 (Salt Lake City, Utah): Can Utah’s snowpack catch up after dismal start to winter?
• KPCW (Salt Lake City, Utah): Utah water officials worry about 2026 snowpack, drought with continued lack of snow
• KQED (San Francisco): Will the Bay Area’s dry winter flip? Not just yet, but storms could be coming
• The Conversation: Blog: Colorado ski resorts got some welcome snowfall from Winter Storm Fern, but not enough to turn a dry and warm winter around