Utah's weird winter weather makes great skiing conditions

Dunn said snow at Alta and Snowbird on Monday held 5 percent moisture, which is more like the light, fluffy snow Utah has become famous for. There were storms in January where the water content of the snow was up to 30 percent. The average density for Alta/Snowbird snow is around 7 percent.

No one know for sure what brought on the unusual weather, he continued.

"We are currently in the midst of a light El Nino weather system, and while the precipitation pattern looks like an El Nino, the storm track production shows we're not. Why we're in this pattern, no one really understands," he added.

Ultimately, what it means is that Utah has received an abundance of snow while other parts of the country have gone dry. And, it means skiers around the world know it.

"Things are good," said Kip Pitou, president of Ski Utah. "Resort business is up everywhere here in Utah. I think the fact that people know we have snow, and other parts of the country don't, bodes well for us.

"It helps, though, if other areas in the West also have snow, so it's good California got so much snow and people heard about it. It helps if people in the East know there's snow in the West."

Because of the current low value of the dollar, overseas business has been up for Utah resorts this year, especially from England and Germany.

Dave Fields, public relations director at Snowbird, said the number of skiers there is headed for a record.

"We had our earliest opening, then we had more skier days than ever before in November. It was the same in December and again in January. Each month we've been open has been a record."

Christa Graff, communications manager at Deer Valley, said skier numbers are way above previous highs and that part of the reason is because of the good snow conditions. During one 10-day period in January, Deer Valley received 125 inches of snow.

Craig McCarthy, director of sales and marketing at Brian Head, said total snow depth, — 343 inches thus far — is well above average at this point in the season.

"Getting the good snow and being able to open 100 percent of the mountain by mid-November, being able to present our entire product on opening day has helped a lot," he added.

Mark Bennett, with the Park City Chamber and Visitors Bureau, said occupancy numbers are running between 3 and 5 percent ahead of last year.

"And last year was a record for us, as was the year before. This will make three record years in a row," he said. Along with a strong California showing, he also believes Park City is seeing a resurgence in international visitors and also an increase in Canadian visitors because of the weak U.S. dollar and poor snow conditions in places like Washington and Oregon.

At this point, while it may be that the weather pattern is shifting from south to north, it appears the storms will continue to bring snow, but now it's the light, fluffy flakes that make for a perfect covering for skiers.